After the release of SS Rajamouli’s Baahubali: The Beginning in 2015, lead star Prabhas shot to national fame. 

Later in 2017, thanks to the huge success of Baahubali: The Beginning, its sequel, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion had become one of the most hyped films of all time pan-India. 

A month before the release of Baahubali 2, the makers had organised an audio launch event that was attended by SS Rajamouli, Prabhas, Rana Daggubati and other cast and crew members of the film. 

During the event, the DOP of the film KK Senthil Kumar had made a statement that had sparked a debate on social media. 

He had called Prabhas the 'biggest star of India' and had added that he is even bigger than Hindi film stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan. 

While talking about his experience of working on Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, KK Senthil Kumar had praised director SS Rajamouli saying, “SS Rajamouli is not James Cameron of Tollywood but James Cameron is SS Rajamouli of Hollywood.”

Praising the lead actor Prabhas, he said, “He is today the biggest star of India. He is bigger than any Khan or anyone. His film today will be probably the first film to cross Rs 1000 crore and I am so proud to be associated with him. Such a humble man he is.” 

Well, it wasn’t only the DOP, film’s Production Designer Sabu Cyril too had shared similar sentiments about Prabhas' stardom. He had said, “When I met Prabhas I didn't know there is a star who had so many fans really. We were shooting in Kurnool, there were so many people around 100 times than this (pointing at the audience present at the pre-release event) and we couldn't shoot and that's the time I immediately called my wife and told her there is someone else here, because I've worked with so many superstars, they don't have so many fans.” 

For context, Sabu Cyril is a National Film Award-winning Production Designer who has worked with superstars like Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn and Kamal Haasan. 

Later, when Prabhas was asked about the claim made by his film’s DOP, he told Bollywoodlife, “He (Senthil Kumar) just got really excited and said all of that. He just got over-excited after Baahubali was done and just blabbered something, there's nothing like that.”

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