Indian blockbuster 'Baahubali' sold to Germany

Splendid Film has acquired Indian mega-blockbusterBaahubali: The Beginning for Germany.

Billed as India's most expensive film, the $40m historical drama has shattered a number of local box office records since its release last July. It subsequently became the top-grossing local film with a box office of $90m, according to Francois da Silva of Arka Mediaworks International.

Arka International was set up as the sales arm of Indian production outfit Arka Mediaworks to handle international sales of the film. It is headed by da Silva, who was formerly creative consultant at Luc Besson's EuropaCorp and former artistic director of Cannes' Directors' Fortnight.

The film has been sold to 70 territories, including China, Japan, South Asia and Latin America.

Arka Mediaworks International will continue sales at the upcoming European Film Market in Berlin and will also look to ink pre-sales on next instalment Baahubali: The Conclusion.

The second part of the epic drama is currently in production for an early 2017 release. Like the first part, it is also directed by S. S. Rajamouli and produced by Shobu Yarlagadda and Prasad Devineni of Hyderabad-based Arka Mediaworks.