Prabhas is ‘darling’ at the box office for a reason. Not every day, films earning Rs 2000 crores are made in India (Baahubali: The Conclusion). Of late, Telugu star releases, Saaho and Radhe Shyam have not worked at the ticket window. This has put him on the back foot and is hungry for success. However, the makers’ trust in him is unshakable as he is the only legitimate pan-India star whose name is guaranteed to return. His upcoming films have raked in over Rs 1500 crore, and three of them, Aadipurush, Salar and Atma, have direct pan-India releases. The stage is set as the audience is unquestionably waiting for the big screen spectacle of box office king Prabhas.
slow growth of prabhas in telugu film industry
Starting his film journey in 2002 with Eshwar, Prabhas had a rough time during the start of his career. At that time Prabhas had molded himself according to the expectations of the fans, he was doing masala action and romantic films, which was common in those days. Competition was from his contemporaries like Mahesh Babu, Pawan Kalyan, Jr NTR and Allu Arjun, who tasted success at the box office with their initial releases.
Despite a few hits in the beginning (Varsham and Chhatrapati), Prabhas was unable to establish a strong foothold and a string of flops almost spelled doom for his career. The Don remakes Badla (2009) and Darling (2010) gave him some respite. With the release of Mr Perfect and Mirchi in the coming years, Prabhas showed the makers that there was more to him than meets the eye. Then he whole heartedly immersed himself in SS Rajamouli’s Baahubali franchise, which would be the turning point of his career.
Reading: From Rs 12 crore to Rs 2000 crore, how SS Rajamouli became ‘Baahubali’ at the box office. birthday special
Global Success With Baahubali Franchise
Prabhas had invested in the Baahubali franchise along with his mentor Rajamouli, which gave him the much-needed hit of his career. Together, the actor-director duo will create history for the Indian box office and leave a lasting impression on world cinema. With the creative vision of Rajamouli and the massive presence of Prabhas, who has garnered a decent fan base in the southern states, Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) will give India a new vocabulary in cinema-pan-India films.
It became the second highest-grossing Indian film of all time and the highest-grossing Indian film of all time within India. The Hindi dubbed version also broke many records. While charting the box-office history of movies, Baahubali: The Beginning will always get a mention.
In 2017, Baahubali: The Conclusion would build on the success of the first installment. It became India’s biggest hit till date. It was made on an estimated budget of Rs 250 crore and grossed over Rs 2000 crore at the worldwide box office. Now, as things stand, every release in India is following the success that the Baahubali franchise has achieved.
low phase of prabhas
After Prabhas garnered pan-India attention with Baahubali, his next release was looking to make more inroads in the northern region. Saaho (2019) was sleek and action-packed. It was also to increase the appeal Shraddha Kapoor In this. However, the film was an average success and left the fans of the actor disappointed. The Hindi version was a hit but that was not enough.
In 2021, Prabhas returned to his boyfriend-boy image with Radhe Shyam. The budget of the film was good and it was shot at many attractive locations internationally. However, it kept getting delayed due to the pandemic and when it finally hit the big screen, it was a major disaster. Many Prabhas fans also started questioning his pan-India move as his projects were becoming less and less relevant to the local Telugu audience.
Rs 1500 crore on Prabhas’ trust
With the failure of Saaho and Radhe Shyam, many rush to lock up Prabhas. However, this wouldn’t be the first time something like this would happen. The much-anticipated revival is waiting to happen and may not be too far away. Made with an estimated budget of Rs 500 crore, Aadipurush is slated to release on January 12 next year. It has been closely watched by fans and has all the ingredients of a blockbuster.
He will next be seen in Salar, produced by KGF director Prashant Neel. Also filming for Nag Ashwin’s sci-fi film Project. There are high expectations for both these projects and the cast is huge. Not only are all her upcoming films in different genres, but she is also trying to push the envelope for filmmaking, each in her own way. After the success of Baahubali, who better than Prabhas to introduce a new genre of movies to the fans in India?