Baahubali Sets Retained By Ramoji Film City For Tourist Attraction

New Delhi: Baahubali fans may soon take a trip to Hyderabad for a behind-the-scenes tour of Mahishmathi. The grand sets of Baahubali, which had been constructed on a budget of a whopping sum of Rs 60 crore for both films, has been retained and reserved by Ramoji Film City and is open for tourists to drop by. The Baahubali sets are sprawled across a massive area of 100 acres, all of which is now open for tourists. One can now have a tour of the extravagant Baahubali sets with tickets priced at Rs 1,250 for a general tour (entry time 9 am to 11:30 am) and a premium tour for Rs 2,349 (entry time from 9 am to 2 pm) with tickets available exclusively for online booking only. Students and corporate offices can also make bookings with special packages, reads the Film City's official website. Ramoji Film City encompasses an area of 2000 acres.
 
The newly opened Baahubali sets have suddenly become the biggest attraction of Ramoji Film City, an official of the studio told mid-day: "A cumulative of over Rs 60 crore was spent on creating the sets of the film over two parts. Besides the set, some props too have been retained for visitors to see. We have many film students, cinema lovers and even general public visiting us. At the moment, it's the spot that is attracting maximum tourists for us."
 
Credit for designing the massive Baahubali sets go to not only award-winning production designer Sabu Cyril but also his team, who created some 1,500 sketches to bring Mahishmathi alive on screen. "The pre-production team had made 1500 sketches, in view of which the film was later shot," the official added.
 Producer Shobu Yarlagadda said the idea was actually pitched by Ramoji. "The officials at Ramoji approached us with the idea and we were happy to oblige. It took us months to create the set and we were anyway planning to retain the set for later use. What better than to feel that we've created something for posterity," he told  mid-day. However, the production team of Baahubali is not taking any monetary share from Ramoji for the sets, he added: "We work with Ramoji on a regular basis. There need not be a monetary arrangement between us. Our relationship goes beyond that."

S S Rajamouli's ambitious series of Baahubali movies have been made on a humongous budget of Rs 150 crore - which is only one-tenth of what the second part of the epic saga has made. Baahubali: The Beginning released in 2015 while The Conclusion arrived in theatres this year. Prabhas and Rana Daggubati headline the Baahubali movies while the impressive cast line-up also includes Anushka Shetty, Ramya Krishnan, Tamannaah Bhatia and Sathyaraj.