RAJAMOULI CONFIRMS TRIMMING OF SHIVA–AVANTHIKA LOVE STORY IN ‘BAAHUBALI: THE EPIC’

The re-edited version, combining both Baahubali films into one grand saga, hits theatres on October 31

Prabhas and Tamannaah Bhatia in Baahubali The Epic (Pic credit: IMDb)

Director S.S. Rajamouli has revealed that a significant part of the love story between Prabhas’s Shiva and Tamannaah Bhatia’s Avanthika has been trimmed from Baahubali: The Epic — the newly re-edited version of the blockbuster franchise.

In a recent hour-long chat featuring Prabhas and Rana Daggubati, Rajamouli shared, “The main scenes we trimmed were... the whole Avanthika love story.” To streamline the runtime, he confirmed that three songs — Pacha Bottasi, Kannaa Nidurinchara, and Manohari — were also removed, reducing the film’s duration from 5 hours 27 minutes to 3 hours 43 minutes.

Baahubali: The Epic stitches together Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017) into a single, immersive narrative of power, betrayal, and vengeance. The duology, led by Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Anushka Shetty, and Tamannaah, became a cinematic landmark and the highest-grossing Telugu film of its time.

The re-edited epic returns to theatres on October 31, promising fans a tighter, reimagined take on the iconic saga that redefined Indian cinema.