On the day Baahubali: The Beginning was released, Rajamouli and the movie's producers were in a state of confusion. In the Mumbai film circles and the Hindi belt, the feedback was that the film was terrific. In Telugu, the feedback from ground was quite opposite.
After early shows on the release day, memes said that it was not Baahubali but 'Producer Bali', 'Distributors Bali' and 'Audience Bali'. "My 'vadina' was part of a WhatsApp group in which about 120 media personnel were there. They didn't know that she was in that group, so they flooded it with negative memes. In one meme, the Shiva Lingam was replaced with Zandu Balm. She was so scared that she didn't even talk about it with us. Hearing all the feedback in Telugu, I didn't know what the producers' situation would be (if the film flops). In the evening, though, Sai Korrapati (Ceded distributor) told me not to worry about the chatter because the film was doing exceedingly well on the ground with collections growing show after show. Even then, I wasn't convinced. Saturday collections were bigger. And on Sunday, looking at the growing crowds, I was happy. By the evening of Day 3, the mood changed entirely and we were finally relaxed," Rajamouli said.
The budget of Baahubali: The Beginning was Rs 120 Cr, which was Rs 40 Cr higher than the share earned by the biggest hit (Magadheera) of Telugu cinema.
