Baahubali – The Making

Baahubali : The Beginning is a mammoth blockbuster directed by S. S. Rajamouli. The film a benchmark in Indian cinema, has won plenty of awards and is one of the highest-grossing films worldwide. But what went into the production of Baahubali that made it such an iconic success?

The making of Baahubali involved a combination of innovative techniques, meticulous planning, and groundbreaking visual effects. Every aspect of the Baahubali production, from casting to set design, reflected the scale and ambition of the project.

There is a lot that goes into making such a huge film. There’s hundreds of people involved. Since it’s actually set up in a fictional land in a fictitious universe, the entire world needs to be build and that’s no easy feat. It took them a year for Pre-Production! That’s Hollywood sized pre-production scales! It’s a monster of a project and they’re doing multiple movies. VFX in India is on the rise in the past years with movies like Ra One coming out along with other movies with focus on VFX.

There is a lot that goes into the production of Baahubali, a film of such massive scale. Hundreds of people were involved in bringing this cinematic masterpiece to life. Since it’s set up in a fictional land within a fictitious universe, the entire world had to be meticulously built from scratch — and that’s no easy feat. The making of Baahubali took a year of pre-production alone! That's a Hollywood-level pre-production scale. It’s a monster of a project, with multiple movies being planned and executed. The Baahubali production showcased the immense potential of Indian VFX, which has been on the rise in recent years, with films like Ra.One and other VFX-heavy projects pushing the boundaries of Indian cinema.

The difference in the two films (Ra One and Baahubali) being the focus. Ra One was more character and story centric whereas Baahubali has more emphasis on the environment, Storyboard, Planning as well as Digitization. It is a next to perfect mix of live action with VFX.

There’s concepts that need to be made Visual Designs, which are then also made into 3D Models before work even begins on the real thing.

Aside from conceptualizing giant war machines, the production of Baahubali also involved intricate designs for smaller concepts like weapons, swords, headgear, and so on. The making of Baahubali required entire worlds to be built from scratch! The 3D model was carefully colored to better understand the final look and was used as a base to create the real set. This attention to detail is what made the Baahubali production truly remarkable.

Aside from 3D models there’s also Matte Painting, digital coloring, color collection, storyboarding and plenty of other important tasks involved in the production of films like Baahubali. You can learn more about these procedures at Seamedu and our Visual Effects course.

Written by: Omkar Athavale

Last updated: 11-02-2025

Omkar is a skilled cinematographer with over a decade of experience in the industry. He has collaborated with renowned organizations such as National Geographic, Vice, Indian government agencies, and top brands in automotive, food, and beauty sectors.

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