The “Baahubali” universe is one which has been continually transformative for mainstream Indian cinema and the latest entry, the animated feature “Baahubali: The Eternal War – Part 1,” might be on the verge of doing it again. 

A co-production between India’s Arka Mediaworks and France’s Alcyde, as well as Zaratan and Aniventure in the U.K., with animation led by Mumbai’s 88 Pictures, its heavily stylized take on the expansive world of the films by S.S. Rajamouli (“RRR”) presents for the filmmakers an opportunity for Indian animation. 

Ahead of a work in progress unveil at France’s Annecy Animation Festival, Arka Mediaworks co-founder and producer Shobu Yarlagadda (the “Baahubali” franchise) reflected with director Ishan Shukla (“Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust,” “Star Wars: Visions – The Bandits of Golak”) on the chance that animation represented for this fictional world to expand in a meaningful way. 

“In India, animation is still something which hasn’t really caught people’s attention,” Shukla says. “They’re really rare, and something like ‘Baahubali,’ where we already have a fanbase in India, hopefully will create more animation aficionados in India.” 

Producer Yarlagadda also hopes that “a new generation and new fans will start looking not just [into] ‘Baahubali,’ but into Indian stories and Indian movies as well,” he says. 

For the producer, the Annecy presentation affirms that they are on the right path to reach a global audience, particularly for animation from India. “It’s been a tough journey for Indian animation, primarily because of the budgets, not because of lack of stories or lack of talent,” Yarlagadda observes. The reputation of the ‘Baahubali’ franchise and Shukla’s involvement, to Yarlagadda, meant they could pick the right teams and secure the budget they needed for good quality animation. 

Yarlagadda describes the challenge as “a chicken and egg story”: Since there is a reluctance to put money behind the talent, this leads to films which are less financially viable, which then restricts future animated features seeking a budget.”Someone has to break that first,” Yarlagadda argues. “We don’t want to be presumptuous about it, but at least the ambition is that we do something that can create new markets.” 

Reflecting on the Indian animation landscape Shukla thinks about education. “Art takes a backseat more often than not, what happens in the end is that we have very limited amount of schools and even a lesser number of students who want to make films or want to come into animation, and in the end there is no business, because there are no creators.” 

He does see it changing, however, saying that the popularity of anime among young people in India is one signifier. “I think the culture is shifting, and I see a lot more indie animators making their own YouTube channels,” he adds.  

The afterlife setting and story of “The Eternal War,” to Shukla, could only be told in this medium. “That kind of a story doesn’t really work in live action, you know. It makes far more sense to show something this fantastical with so many different worlds and realms with their own set of rules,” he adds. The live action films are already larger than life themselves, by the director’s definition, and in “The Eternal War,” they’re doubling down. “We are putting steroids into it,” Shukla laughs, “because in this world, in this new realm, we can do really whatever we want.” 

That sense of freedom was important to Shukla, whose work is known for having a distinct personality. “Both Shobu [Yarlagadda] and Rajamouli are giving me all the resources, but they are letting me steer the ship, which is amazing,” he says. “It’s like Christmas for us animators.” Shukla adds. “I’m very fortunate to have a producer like Shobu, because the best part is that he understands tech very well. He also understands that it’s not about the technique, it’s about the artist who’s driving it, so when I started the movie, he let me pick the right artists for the designs and for the animation tests and this and that, and that really defined the look of the movie in the end.” 

Shukla and the team envisioned art design as resembling “moving concept art” with its painterly details. “We are pushing the boundaries artistically as much as possible, both in terms of design and also how we are intertwining concept art sensibilities, in which the final render almost looks like an illustration or a concept product,” Shukla says. 

The music was also key in building out the vision of the film. “It’s not like your typical Indian music that you’re going to hear in the movie, it’s going to be a fusion of a few things, as well as the art styles,” he explains. 

This sense of fusion permeates the film, as each of the different realms of the afterlife the film explores comes with its own look. “There are three styles, primarily, which are going to finally come into the movie. One is the painterly CG that we are talking about. There are two other art styles; they are not there for the sake of putting or slapping another art style in the movie,” Shukla explains, noting that he felt it was important that these styles felt meaningful, that each world asked for a different artistic sensibility.  

The visual flexibility of “The Eternal War” is something which matches the very nature of the “Baahubali” universe, in the eyes of producer Yarlagadda. “It’s a very elastic universe, in the sense that it’s one of those worlds where you can organically bring in more worlds and characters,” he explains. “The Eternal War” has opened up a new set of worlds for the team both into Indian mythology and a new set of characters. Yarlagadda feels that more stories can be told through the “Baahubali” world, through any medium. “It can be series or graphic novels, and hopefully games, there is opportunity for all of them. But I think we will take it one step at a time.”