YouTube To Big Screens: How Baahubali Single-Handedly Tapped Into Hindi Audience's Obsession With South Dubbed Movies And Became 1st ₹100 Crore Grosser

10 Years Of Baahubali: A decade ago on this day, director SS Rajamouli's magnum opus Baahubali would kick-start trends that would impact filmmaking for years to come and reinvent the way international audiences look at Indian cinema. While Indian movies were always global in appeal, with the likes of Satyajit Ray, Raj Kapoor, Mira Nair and more paving the way for the global audiences to witness what movie magic here was all about, it was Rajamouli in 2015 who showed the world how massive scale and VFX would mark the next chapter in Indian storytelling.  

Rajamouli's Baahubali is a truly redefining moment in Indian cinema history in many ways. It would introduce the concept of 2-part movies, which has now become a go-to template for filmmakers and a box office success formula. The director also bet on Indian mythology taking things global and succeeded. Another aspect of Baahubali success was how it became a rage in the Hindi belts. It would also become the first South dubbed film to mint ₹100 crore in Hindi.

Also read: SS Rajamouli Reveals How Baahubali Team Dealt With 'Disaster' Verdict For Film: We Were Troubled 

South dubbed films find theatre audiences with Baahubali

The trend of watching South dubbed films on satellite TV channels and YouTube is a popular one in Hindi rural belts, Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. Baahubali was tailor made for these centers. A truly global film in scale and VFX, rooted in Indian tradition, would give the pan-India audience a taste of what "big screen experience" truly meant. MM Keeravani's now-iconic background score, Prabhas' macho image (a preferred hero trope among the lower middle class audiences) and Rajamouli's vision would prove to be a lethal mix and Baahubali opening weekend biz would rocket to nearly ₹25 crore in Hindi. The total collections in the language would amount to ₹118.5 core over a two-month glorious run at the ticket window.

Also read: Streaming On OTT This Weekend: Modern Masters SS Rajamouli, Brinda And More Titles To Binge-watch

A footprint for the future of Indian cinema 

Baahubali penetrated the single-screens in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Odisha, Bihar and more where watching South dubbed movies on YouTube and TV is still a rage. A feat achieved by Rajamouli's Baahubali would later become the footprint for the success of KGF, Baahubali 2, 2.0, Pushpa, Kalki 2898 AD and many more. 

The audiences that gave hundreds of millions of views to popular YouTube channels playing South dubbed movies in Hindi like Wamindia Movies, Goldmines, South Dubbed Movies and more provided Baahubali the platform it deserved to shine at the box office.