When OTT began in India, it largely consisted of short format shows made by small production companies releasing over YouTube. These shows were largely low-budget slice-of-life dramas. But over the years, as major streaming platforms debuted in India, the scale of these shows began to grow bigger. Today, the biggest web series in India even rival some of the biggest Indian films in terms of budgets. What is interesting is that the most expensive of them all has not seen completion in almost seven years.

In 2018, when Netflix India was beginning to spread its wings in terms of original content, it announced an ambitious project – a spinoff/prequel to SS Rajamouli’s blockbuster Baahubali film series. The series was titled Baahubali: Before The Beginning, and was said to be based on the books written by Anand Neelakanthan that focus on Sivagami, the character played by Ramya Krishnan in the film. The first season was said to be based on the book The Rise of Sivagami. Mrunal Thakur was cast as young Sivagami and Rahul Bose and Atul Kulkarni also came on board as filming began in September 2018. However, after spending Rs 100 crore on filming, in 2021, Netflix decided to start from scratch and Mrunal walked out. A new series was devised with Wamiqa Gabbi in the lead. Reports stated that this was to cost Rs 200 crore, giving the series a combined cost of Rs 300 crore.

How Baahubali web series became more expensive than the biggest Bollywood blockbusters

The Rs 300-crore price tag for Baahubali: Before the Beginning not only makes it the biggest Indian web series (ahead of Indian Police Force and Heeramandi, both of which cost Rs 200 crore), but also more expensive than several Indian films. Even big successes like Animal (Rs 100 crore), Dunki (Rs 180 crore) and even Fighter and Pathaan (both Rs 250 crore) have smaller budgets than the show.

Wamiqa Gabbi has implied that she may not be a part of the project anymore given that the director Kunal Deshmukh has also opted out. In 2022, Variety reported that Netflix was ‘re-evaluating’ the show, adding that the streaming giant has been “struggling with the project for some time now.”

Source : DNA India