Was Hrithik Roshan supposed to play Prabhas' role in SS Rajamouli's Baahubali? Producer reveals the truth

In a recent interview, producer Shobu Yarlagadda spoke about the upcoming release of Baahubali The Epic and had this to say about Prabhas playing the lead.

Ever since SS Rajamouli’s Baahubali: The Epic, an amalgamation of Baahubali: The Beginning and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, was announced, there has been a lot of chatter about everything from the film’s run time to how Hrithik Roshan was once supposedly approached to play Prabhas’ role in the film. In an interview with Gulte, producer Shobu Yarlagadda of Arka Media Works clarified it all. Here’s what he said.

Recently rumours did rounds that Hrithik Roshan was supposed to play Prabhas' role in Baahubali.

Was Hrithik Roshan the first choice for Prabhas’ role?

Recently, following the announcement of Baahubali: The Epic, there has been considerable online chatter suggesting that Hrithik was the first choice to play Prabhas’ role in the film. Shobu, however, brought this up unprompted and shut down the rumours. He said, “I see online chatter that we asked Hrithik and stuff like that for Baahubali’s role. That never happened. Because from day one, it was Prabhas.” For the uninitiated, Prabhas played dual roles as Amarendra Baahubali and his son, Mahendra Baahubali, also known as Sivudu, in the film.

Baahubali: The Epic’s runtime revealed

Shobu also shut down rumours that the new film is over 5 hours long in the interview, stating that it will be around 3 hours and 40 minutes long instead. He also busted rumours of an announcement about Baahubali 3 at the end of the film. “All high scenes of Prabhas have been retained, so have all the crucial scenes of Prabhas and Rana. I think the most impacted will be the songs and some scenes. Of course, some songs are there. There has also been a lot of scene trimming,” said the producer.

About Baahubali: The Epic

Baahubali: The Epic is a remastered and reedited version of Rajamouli’s Baahubali films. It will be announced in theatres on 31 October this year. Rana Daggubati, Anushka Shetty, Tamannaah Bhatia, Ramya Krishnan, Nassar, and Sathyaraj also star in the epic saga.