‘Baahubali 2’ fan frenzy hits local cinemas

PETALING JAYA: The sequel of fantasy adventure Baahubali is enjoying stellar success at local cinemas.

Cinema operators said Baahubali 2: The Conclusion has been having a “bull run” since its release on April 28.

Golden Screen Cinemas Sdn Bhd (GSC) senior marketing manager Lionel Loh said ticket sales for the movie have been great.

“We’ve had over 2,800 screenings so far across 24 GSC locations,” he said.

An MBO Cinemas spokesman said the audience response was very encouraging and ticket sales have been very strong due to anticipation of the sequel since the first movie was released in 2015.

TGV Cinemas head of marketing Celeste Koay also said response to the movie was overwhelming.

The cinema operators said the movie, which was released in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu languages, has been among the top 10 movies listed in their cinemas.

MSK Film Production Sdn Bhd director Saradha Sivalingam Kalai, who distributed the movie together with Antenna Entertainments, said they did not expect Baahubali 2 to be an “epic blockbuster”.

“We were contemplating really hard if we should invest (to get the rights to distribute) because the production of the movie itself was very expensive. But we decided to take the risk.

“This is the first time here that an Indian movie has seen such high collection,” said Saradha, adding that the movie fared much better here than South Indian blockbusters such as Kabali and Enthiran.

The company is now looking to bring Baahubali: The Beginning to the digital platform in DVD.