RRR fever rightfully swept the U.S. in 2022, all the way to a best original song Oscar for “Naatu Naatu.” The superheroic historical drama from Telugu filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli synthesized spectacle, action, politics, and dance into a three-hour tapestry that basically blew anyone who saw it — whether in its tiny early screenings to its eventual IMAX release — away.
Now, fans of RRR will get another chance to experience the Rajamouli magic in theaters, even while he’s at work on his brand new movie.
Variance Films, which was behind the original RRR road show, announced on Tuesday the U.S. release of Baahubali: The Epic, a combined version of Rajamouli’s 2015 film Baahubali: The Beginning and 2017’s Baahubali: The Conclusion. Think of it like Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair for the Rajamouli version of The Lord of the Rings. Rajamouli personally edited down the films into one four-hour movie, to be released in theaters across the U.S. on Oct. 31
Baahubali: The Beginning, which remains on rotation on Netflix for the time being, is Indian cinema at its most audacious — 159 minutes of mythical excess that plays like a Biblical epic by way of Marvel Studios, with a touch of Hamlet and even a dash of Step Up. At its center is Shivudu, a superhuman adventurer played by the magnetic, single-name star Prabhas, who climbs a skyscraper-sized waterfall to leave his provincial life behind. Along the way, he romances rebel warrior Avanthika and joins her in a daring mission to rescue a kidnapped queen from a tyrant emperor. Mind-bending choreography, CG spectacle, and exuberant musical numbers made The Beginning the most expensive Indian movie of its time. And, really, it was only half a movie. Baahubali 2: The Conclusion rides a cliffhanger — and a pack of stampeding flaming bulls — into more courtly intrigue and apocalyptic battle sequences.
While the two halves of Baahubali will remain as solo films, Rajamouli’s The Epic should address many of the issues people had with them at the time — mainly, that they were a little bloated. And based on a trailer, the film looks fully optimized for the high-def big-screen experience that RRR only earned after a year on the road. It’s that type of venue where Rajamouli dreams of all of his films playing for any audience member.
“A movie theater is like a temple,” Rajamouli wrote on Polygon for our 10th anniversary. “When you watch a film in a theater, it’s not just about the film itself, and it’s not even about the great-quality picture or the surround sound. It is about a communal experience — you’re experiencing a particular emotion with a lot of other people. There is a kind of synergy that exists in a theater that doesn’t happen in your home or on the go on a personal device.”
Rajamouli is not just reimagining his old work; currently, the director is underway on an untitled “globe-trotting adventure inspired by the Indiana Jones and James Bond franchises” that stars Mahesh Babu and Priyanka Chopra. But for now, Baahubali: The Epic fills a void — a very colorful, energetic, operatic void.
