With the release of the trailer of Baahubali–The Conclusion , set to be released on April 28, interest has reached fever pitch. The audio launch is scheduled for March 26 at Ramoji Film City.
The Lahari Recording Company (LRC), which bought the audio rights, has earlier bought rights for biggies such as Prema Loka (1988, ₹ 4.50 lakh), Dalapathi (1992 ₹ 75 lakh) and recently for Chiranjeevi’s 150th film Khaidi No. 150 and Nandamuri Balakrishna’s 100th film Goutamiputra Satakarni.
According to industry sources, LRC paid a whopping ₹4.50 crore for the audio rights. Tulasiram Naidu of LRC, popularly known as Lahari Velu in Kannada film industry, talks to MetroPlus about the acheivement. Excerpts:
Your comments on the ₹4.50 crore deal?
I don’t wanted to comment on the money at this juncture. But I must tell you, LRC has paid the highest sum in its 37 years of operation to get the audio rights for the Tamil and Telugu versions. There was stiff competition among all the prestigious recording companies of the country. LRC signed the deal around seven months ago with Arka Media Works, the production company of Baahubali 2 . I am confident that the audio of Baahubali 2 will break existing records in the South Indian film industry. Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions got the audio rights for the Hindi version. Tamil, Telugu and Hindi versions of audio will be released at a gala function at Ramoji Film City and all bigwigs of the South Indian film industry and Bollywood are attending the function.
LRC had earlier bagged audio and distribution rights of ‘Bahubali–The Beginning’ in 2015. What was the price of the deal?
We had paid ₹1.50-crore for audio rights and ₹22.20-crore for distribution rights of multiplexes. We could clinch the deal because of our old association with maker S S Rajamouli and music director M M Keervani.
Is it a fact that you are trying hard to get distribution rights for the film too?
Yes, Arka Media Works has set the target of ₹45 crore for the distribution rights in Karnataka. LRC is leaving no stone unturned to buy the distribution rights in the State. The proposal of the Karnataka government to cap the price of tickets in multiplexes at ₹200 and making screening of Kannada and regional language films at least one screen during the prime time, mandatory for multiplexes, forced us to renegotiate the deal with the makers. Big distributors are weighing against one other to get the distribution rights. LRC is confident of getting the rights, because of its previous association and for releasing the first installment of the film. We will soon take a call if it works out for us.
Considering the demand for the Kannada version of ‘Baahubali 2’ on social media platforms, will you make a claim for the dubbed Kannada version of the film?
So far no decision has been taken on dubbing.
Is LRC confident of recovering the investment?
Baahubali’s appreciation for Kitappa in the trailer triggered further curiosity, as the audience want to know why Kitappa killed Baahubali. The trailer has increaded audience’ interest. The posters of the film were released few days ago and points at some mind-blowing and top notch-action sequences on the battlefield, never seen before by the audience. This much is enough for us to recover the cost. We had released Bahubali–The Beginning in all the multiplexes (over 385 in 2015) and fans did not disappoint us.
