Prabhas cements his place as the biggest actor in the country.
His last few films rank as some of the highest-grossing Indian films ever.
Uppalapati Venkata Suryanarayana Prabhas Raju popularly known as Prabhas is no doubt India’s biggest movie star and possibly one of the biggest movie stars in Asia. He is also amongst the highest paid actor in India. Reportedly Prabhas charges somewhere near 120-150 crores per film. He is quite famous in the US, Japan, Australia and Canada.
Prabha’s film career witnessed ridiculous growth after featuring as the lead in the Baahubali movie franchise. The Telugu Film Industry as well as the South Film Industry, Malayalam Film Industry, Tamil Film Industry, and Kannada Film Industry was recognized and celebrated globally after the mammoth success of Baahubali Part 1 and Baahubali Part 2.
Prabhas was one of the most popular actors in the Telugu Industry. But people from Indian states like Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Punjab, Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and many more states barely knew him. But post Baahubali, Prabhas is now the most popular and loved actor in every part of the country.
In 2015, Prabhas alongside Rana Daggubati, Tamannaah Bhatia, Anushka Shetty, Ramya Krishan, and Sathyaraj featured in director SS Rajamouli’s ambitious dream project Baahubali. Baahubali: The Beginning was released on 10 July 2015 in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi. The film’s story is written by SS Rajamouli’s father V. Vijayendra Prasad. It was the most expensive film of that time with a budget of over 200 crores.
Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) opened to critical acclaim in India with widespread popularity. Baahubali: Indian fans as well as movie buffs from all over the world recognized Telugu Film Industry and understood the brilliant filmmaking style of them. It’s almost a decade and yet Baahubali: The Beginning remains one of the greatest Indian films ever. Director SS Rajamouli received widespread appreciation for his direction, story, and screenplay. While the lead star cast especially Prabhas became household names for everyone in India. The film grossed over 600 crores in 2015.
The second part of the Baahubali film franchise titled ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’ was released on 28 April 2017. Baahubali 2 grossed over 1800 crores globally against a budget of 250 crores. Baahubali 2 was the first film to collect over 500 crores in India in Hindi language and remained the highest-grossing Hindi film until its record was broken in 2023 by Shahrukh Khan’s Pathaan.
Baahubali 2 received international critical acclaim and is regarded as one of the best films to ever watch. Baahubali 1 and Baahubali 2 folded Prabhas’s popularity all over India and he became the first Pan–India Actor. While the Baahubali film franchise became the first Pan–Pan-India film. After Baahubali, many filmmakers from the Kannada, Telugu, and Tamil film industries released their ambitious films in the Hindi language and met mammoth success. Films such as RRR, Saaho, Pushpa Film Franchise, KGF Part 1, and Part 2.
It’s been years since Baahubali 2 happened and yet Prabhas remains the most popular and biggest actor of Indian Cinema.
After Baahubali, Prabhas starred in Saaho which was released in 2019. Though the film did not perform well due to mixed to negative reactions it was the second consecutive film of Prabhas to collect over 100 crores on day one of its release. Most of his films such as Adipurush, Salaar, and Kalki 2898 AD have collected more than 100 crores on the day one of their release.
Despite his mammoth popularity, Prabhas did face setbacks when his films opened in big numbers on day one of the release but failed to withstand due to poor and negative reviews. In 2022, he starred in the periodic romantic film Radhe Shyam which received highly negative reviews and was a box office bomb. In 2023, he starred as Lord Ram in Om Raut’s directional film Adipurush. The film collected over 140 crores globally on day one. However, the film received highly negative reviews and sparked controversies. It was another box office bomb for him after Radhe Shyam.
In 2023 December, Prabhas starred in KGF fame Prashant Neel’s action-drama Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire alongside Prithviraj Sukumaran. Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire. The film generally received positive reviews and grossed over 800 crores globally. It was the fourth film of Prabhas to collect more than 100 crores on day one of its release. Earning over 100+ crores on the opening day of the film release is a dream of every actor. But doing it regularly is extraordinary work. Prabhas had done it five times. The film includes Baahubali 2, Saaho, Adipurush, Salaar Part 1, and his recent release Kalki 2898 AD.
Kalki 2898 AD is Prabhas’s recent and biggest success. Kalki 2898 AD is an epic scientific action film starring Prabhas, Deepika Padukone, Amitabh Bachchan, and Kamal Hassan in lead roles and Disha Patani among others in supporting roles. The film also stars SS Rajamouli, Dulquer Salmaan, Vijay Deverkonda, and Ram Gopal Verma in special appearances. The film is directed by Nag Ashwin. Kalki 2898 AD is one of the most expensive Indian films. The film is made on a budget of 600 crores.
Kalki 2898 AD collected over 190 crores globally on its opening day. The film generally received positive reviews. Kalki 2898 AD has grossed over 300 crores in three days. The film is expected to collect more than 1500 crores globally making it one of the highest-grossing films ever.
At 44, Prabhas is the biggest actor in Indian Cinema with all of his films doing unthinkable box office business. And he has quite a few promising films ahead. Only time will tell how many more box office records his films will register in the future.
In the future, Prabhas is going to star in the second part of Salaar and the second part of Kalki 2898 AD. Besides, his next release is a film titled ‘The Raja Saab’ which released in 2025. In 2025, Prabhas will start the shooting of a film titled ‘Spirit’. Spirit is an upcoming action thriller film directed by Kabir Singh and Animal fame director Sandeep Reddy Vanga.
Despite his filmmaking style attracting a lot of controversies, Sandeep Reddy Vanga remains one of the most demanded filmmakers in India. His next film with Prabhas will surely create a ridiculous hype.