When Katappa-san killed Baahubali-san: SS Rajamouli’s films are the latest fan favourite in Japan

Inokashira Park in Tokyo, with its swan-shaped paddle boats, is reputed to be one of Japan’s most popular dating spots. What if Amarendra Baahubali visited Inakoshira Park with Devasena and paddled his way into her heart in a swan boat? Is that how the idea for the flying vessel in the Hamsa Naava song came about?

These are the connections that Kanagawa Prefecture resident Shironeko Takano made after watching the Baahubali films, which she later reproduced in the form of a four-page manga. Takano’s Baahubali fan art is just one of the many tributes to SS Rajamouli’s blockbuster that have emerged in Japan after both movies were released there.

Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) and its sequel, Baahubali: The Conclusion (2017), were released in Japan in 2017 on April 8 and December 29 respectively. Both movies had different titles – the first one was called Baahubali: The Birth of a Legend, and the second, Baahubali: The Triumphant Return of the King.

The versions released in Japan are shorter than the Indian ones, and were screened with subtitles.
Part one had its share of fans, but it is the sequel that has proved to be the bigger hit. Baahubali: The Conclusion has been a rage at so-called masala screenings of Indian movies, where moviegoers scream, shout, sing along, or throw confetti at the screen. Audiences at these screenings often come dressed like the movie characters.

Unlike in India, they are expected to bring along brooms and dustpans and clean up after they are finished.