Was Hrithik Roshan The First Choice To Play Prabhas' Role in SS Rajamouli's Baahubali? Producer Opens Up

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Rajamouli’s Baahubali: The Epic, a re-edited and remastered single-film version of his earlier two-part saga, Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017), is all set to release on October 10. Ahead of the release, producer Shobu Yarlagadda of Arka Media Works opened up about the film's run time, and also addressed past reports about Hrithik Roshan's inclusion in project.

Was Hrithik Roshan The First Choice To Prabhas' Role In Director SS Rajamouli's Baahubali? Producer Spills The Beans

Recently, following the announcement of Baahubali: The Epic, there has been considerable reports suggesting that Hrithik was the first choice to play Prabhas’ role in the film. Shobu, addressed the rumours. He said, “I see online chatter that we asked Hrithik and stuff like that for Baahubali’s role. That never happened. Because from day one, it was Prabhas.”

Earlier in 2023, the producer stated that Prabhas was the only choice for the titular role and the makers never considered any other another actor for the part of Amarendra and Mahendra Baahubali. There were reports that Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan approached for the role of Mahishmathi's prince but Shobu said, "I haven't thought beyond him (Prabhas) and the character was written keeping him in mind. We never approached anyone else, contrary to what some news reports say." The first part released in 2015 while the second part of SS Rajamouli-directed Baahubali film released in 2017.

About Baahubali: The Epic's Run Time

Shobu also denied news the the film is over 5 hours long in the interview, stating that it will be around 3 hours and 40 minutes long instead. He said “All high scenes of Prabhas have been retained, so have all the crucial scenes of Prabhas and Rana. I think the most impacted will be the songs and some scenes. Of course, some songs are there. There has also been a lot of scene trimming,” said the producer.

https://youtu.be/32VzaaXSij0?si=FjlVRGsTWWZwFCOW

Baahubali: The Epic also stars Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Anushka Shetty, Tamannaah Bhatia, Ramya Krishnan, Nassar, and Sathyaraj. Baahubali features soundtrack of ten volumes composed by M M Keeravani, for the two-part Baahubali film series.