Baahubali effect: Kurukshetra — a big-budget Kannada film

The record collection of Baahubali 2: The Conclusion in Bengaluru has inspired the Kannada film industry to plan big and bring out a magnum opus. Enthused by the runway success of S S Rajamouli's blockbuster, a Kannada film producer has embarked on producing a mythological movie themed on the Mahabharata.
Film producer-politician N Muniratna has announced that he would produce the film, Kurukshetra, with the Kaurava king Duryodhana as its focus.The big-budget movie that'll use visual effects to conjure up the grandeur of the mythological era and battle scenes will be launched on July 23, 2017, and is expected to hit the screen towards this year-end.
“Baahubali has shown us the way. Bengaluru being a big centre, Kannada films can take advantage of its market potential. Kurukshetra is going to be an effort to explore this potential,“ said Muniratna, a producer of many Kannada blockbusters, who is also a Congress MLA.While Baahubali 2 grossed closed to Rs 1000 crore in the first week of its release, Bengaluru's share of the same was over Rs 300 crore.
“Earlier, investing big on movies in Karnataka was a risky proposition, but not anymore. After Baahubali, Kurukshetra is expected to be a big-business movie in the state,“ said Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy chairman SV Rajendra Singh Babu.

Once pre-production work is over, the crew plans to shoot the film at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad where Baahubali 1 and 2 were shot. The sets will be similar to those used in Baahubali and sample clips have been already shot. The Kannada film's budget may not be a match to Baahubali 2, touted to have been produced at a cost of Rs 250 crore, but Muniratna said money isn't a constraint.
“We will spend as much as required. It is going to be a bigbudget movie for sure,“ he said, refusing to reveal the figure. Interestingly , Rajamouli too has announced that his next film would be based on the Mahabharata, with a budget of Rs 1,000 crore.Another Telugu producer, Allu Aravind, has said he is planning a movie on Ramayana, with a budget no less than Rs 500 crore.
“Mythological themes are going to be the trend next year, with at least two big movies lined up. The atmosphere is going to be buoyant and it is a smart move on the part of Kannada producers to ride on this wave and produce mythological movies,“ said K Puttaswamy , film historian and analyst.
Naganna, who has many hit movies to his credit, including the historical Sangolli Rayanna, has been chosen to direct Kurukshetra, while Bharavi of Annamayya fame has written the script. Naganna said since the story is centred around Duryodhana, Kurukshetra draws a lot from the Kannada epic Gadhayudha written by poet Ranna.