Baahubali: The Epic is all set for a grand re-release in theatres on October 31, 2025.
The film is a combined version of Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017), edited into one continuous narrative.
In a recent promotional interview, SS Rajamouli, along with Prabhas and Rana Daggubati, opened up about the creative decisions behind the new cut.
Rajamouli confirmed that Tamannaah Bhatia’s popular song “Pacha Bottesina” has been removed from the film.
“By merging both parts and removing the rolling titles, the film originally ran for five hours and 27 minutes,” Rajamouli explained.
“The final version now stands at three hours and 43 minutes. We trimmed major portions, including Avanthika’s love track with Shivudu, the songs Pacha Bottesina, Kanna Nidurinchara, and Irrukupo, along with some war sequences.”
He further elaborated that the decision to shorten the film came after multiple feedback screenings:
“Every scene in Baahubali carries emotion and significance, but we wanted this version to feel fast-paced and purely story-driven. The first cut was about four hours and ten minutes. After test screenings with both film enthusiasts and general audiences, we fine-tuned it to three hours and 43 minutes.”
Rajamouli also revealed that the idea of Baahubali: The Epic had been in development for nearly five years:
“We first tried to narrate the two films linearly — that didn’t work. Then we experimented with shorter scene lengths, but that too failed to capture the flow. Finally, we realized the only way was to remove entire episodes to maintain the story’s rhythm.”
Addressing ongoing speculation about Baahubali 3, Rajamouli added that an animated project set in the same universe is currently in development.
Baahubali: The Epic stars Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Anushka Shetty, Tamannaah Bhatia, Ramya Krishnan, Sathyaraj, and Nasser, and hits theatres on October 31, 2025.