Netflix shelves Bahubali: Before The Beginning, a prequel to Bahubali franchise

Bahubali: The Beginning (2015) and Bahubali: The Conclusion (2017) were huge box office successes in India. After the success of the franchise, Netflix, along with S.S. Rajamouli, decided to create a prequel to the original story. The idea was to show the story of Bahubali’s mother, Sivagami, through a series called Bahubali: Before the Beginning.

For the original cast, Mrunal Thakur was chosen to play the lead, with Deva Katta as the director. Later on, Rahul Bose and Atul Kulkarni came on board to play two more pivotal characters.

But after six months of shooting and more than ₹100 Cr being put into the production and some more in the post production, the makers then decided to shelve the Deva Katta version and bring in a new cast.

A source said, "The entire amount invested in Bahubali: Before The Beginning was put in the cans as the team decided to revamp the series with a new director. Kunal Deshmukh and Ribhu Dasgupta replaced Deva Katta, and the prep work also began in the month of July 2021.”

But later, the production was again put on hold towards the end of 2021. “The work done on the ground in terms of pre-production couldn’t exactly be in sync with the vision that Netflix had for this period drama. After a series of discussions and contemplations, they decided to shelve the project at this point of time. Some extra money which was invested in the prep work too has been considered bad-dates for now. The approximate figure invested in Bahubali: Before The Beginning was 150 crore," the source added further.

Now, the project is shelved completely.