#5yearsofSaaho: Interesting facts about Prabhas' Bollywood debut flick - From marriage rumours to taking Hindi lessons

Prabhas’ first Bollywood movie Saaho completes 5 years of its release today. The movie was released amid a lot of fanfare since it hit the theaters post the gigantic success of Baahubali 2. By then the Rebel star had received pan-India recognition which is why Saaho was released in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi simultaneously.

Shraddha Kapoor was roped in to add a Bollywood quotient and woo the Hindi audience. But somehow, the movie failed to click with the pan-Indian audience as it showed Prabhas in an entirely different role of a cop with grey shades from the holistic, powerful role of warrior of Baahubali.

Rumours about Prabhas’ marriage

At that time Prabhas was constantly asked about his marriage and speculations about the Rebel star marrying his co-star Anushka Shetty were at the zenith. There were also rumours that one of his close relatives had found the right girl for Darling and he would soon get married. However, all these came out to be untrue.

Saaho was a small-budget film

An 8-minute action sequence in #Prabhas 's #Saaho costs a whopping ₹ 70 Crs.. This was shot in #AbuDhabi pic.twitter.com/sOg6bMjJe5

— Ramesh Bala (@rameshlaus) July 16, 2019

The director of Saaho, Sujeeth had approached Prabhas for this film before the release of Baahubali. At that time the Telugu superstar had said yes to young Sujeeth who had done only one small film and hence was a newbie to filmmaking. But after Baahubali Prabhas became a very big pan India star and that is when the budget of Saaho was increased to around 350 crores.

Chase sequence of Saaho shot in Burj Khalifa

Top talent from three leading film industries united at twofour54 for the action movie 'Saaho,' that was released in Cinemas five years ago starring Prabhas, Shraddha Kapoor, and stunt legend Kenny Bates.With twofour54 and @FilmAbudhabi supporting 20 days of intense stunt scenes. pic.twitter.com/vnRvIEyXtw

— twofour54 Abu Dhabi (@2454abudhabi) August 30, 2024

The chase sequence from the movie was shot in Ras-Al-Khaimah and Burj Khalifa, World Trade Center, and Etihad Tower, Abu Dhabi. It was choreographed by world-famous action director Kenny Bates.

#Prabhas shooting for #Saaho in #AbuDhabi

It's a 50 days schedule with 250 Crew Members.. Hollywood Stunt Choreographer #KennyBates is working in the movie.. pic.twitter.com/oRS4NAAB0P

— Ramesh Bala (@rameshlaus) May 2, 2018

Prabhas learned Hindi, deep sea diving for Saaho

5 years of Saaho,one of the best intro scene of all time,I still remember 1st day 1st day,the hype after bahubali 2,to see Prabhas on screen was🔥, waiting for #Saaho 2nd part #Prabhas #ShraddhaKapoor pic.twitter.com/qwmO8Acdfw

— Ujjwal (@kingujjwalgupta) August 30, 2024

There were reports that the South Indian superstar had started taking Hindi lessons so that he could dub his part in the Hindi release. Similarly, Prabhas being a dedicated actor also took training in deep-sea diving as Saaho had a few underwater action scenes.

The movie was ahead of its time?

With Saaho, Prabhas and Sujeeth tried to introduce a Christopher Nolan-inspired style of storytelling wherein the screenplay overlaps with the other. Such movies require the audience to give 100% attention to what is happening on the screen. If you miss one minute of the movie you do not understand the rest of the film and where it is going.

Also the action scenes and technicalities many believed were way ahead of the time and Saaho if re-released today may get a better response.