There are many shocks and surprises awaiting audiences who are agog for S S Rajamouli’s ‘Baahubali The Epic’, which opens across theatres worldwide on October 31.

For those who came in late, Baahubali The Epic will combine the two Baahubali films—’Baahubali: The Beginning’ released on June 10, 2015 and ‘Baahubali: The Conclusion’ released in 2017—as one cohesive experience.

‘Baahubali The Epic’ will play for a running time of 3 hours 40 minutes, which will pose a major problem for screen allotment for theatres across the board.

Says Kumar Abhishek, Manager Connplex, “It is a major hurdle… At a playing time of almost four hours, we would have to cancel most other shows. But will it be worth it? I mean, people have seen both parts of Baahubali repeatedly, so what’s the big attraction?”

The “big attraction” is unseen footage that Rajamouli has added to ‘Baahubali: The Epic’. But would 6-7 minutes of extra footage be the magnet to get audiences revved up?

Significantly, the new fused version of Baahubali has pruned down the songs—so that’s downer for M M Keeravani fans. A lot of Tamannaah Bhatia’s scenes have been deleted from ‘Baahubali The Epic’, as they were seen to obstruct the flow of the narration.