Bahubali Mania Grips Telugu People

Telugu cinegoers are in the grip of an unprecedented "Bahubali Mania", especially in the two Telugu states and neighbouring Karnataka, 48 hours before the release of the second part of the period thriller.

The unusual hype surrounding the movie - which has been made in two parts, took five years in all, and cost over Rs. 200 crores per part - has caught the imagination of film-lovers all over the world.

Studded with a top star cast including Prabhas, Anushka Shetty, Tamannah Bhatia, Ramya Krishna and Satyaraj, the first part of the movie, Bahubali: The Beginning, which was released about two years back, took the film world by storm and beat all box records for a Telugu film. It also garnered tremendous appreciation from critics for its settings, cinematography, costumes etc.

Part two of the movie, Bahubali: The Conclusion, which has been made in multiple languages, is also expected to surpass all records, as it is being released in as many as 6,500 theatres across the country including 900 theatres in the Telugu states, 1,100 cinemas in the USA and 156 cinemas in Canada.

Following the pre-release publicity of the movie over the past many weeks, Bahubali 2 has generated an unprecedented craze. As a result theatres were being besieged by cinegoers since early morning on Wednesday when the advance booking for the movie opened. Massive crowds waited in serpentine queues, braving the scorching summer heat, to lay their hands on the prized tickets. Taking advantage of the mad rush for tickets, some theatre owners have hiked the prices threefold. In fact reports suggested that in theatres in neighbouring Bengaluru tickets were sold for Rs. 600 a pop, and that some diehard fans were prepared to buy tickets even for Rs. 1,000 each.

Keepin in view past experiences during such high-profile releases, the police have made elaborate arrangements to prevent any untoward incidents. They are also keeping a close watch on unscrupulous elements trying to exploit the situation to make a fast buck. Telangana Minister for Cinematography Talasani Srinivas Yadav has warned theatre owners not to hike the ticket prices, and also to desist from running more than the permissible five shows per day.