SS Rajamouli and the team behind ‘Baahubali’. Eternal War’ offers new insights into the ambitious animated spinoff at the 2026 Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Joining Rajamouli is director Ishan Shukla, who talks about the film, getting the animation right and also shares the inspiration behind the central concept.The CGI spin-off of the blockbuster franchise was introduced by producer Rajamouli at the event. Taking to the big stage, he shared that he had high hopes for the film after previous animated entries in the franchise failed to recreate the impact of the original live-action films.“We found moderate successes but not the kind of impact that was made Baahubali the franchise is created. Then one day, another crazy guy comes, Ishan Shukla, and he gives us an idea of what will happen to Baahubali after his death, and he goes to the 14 kingdoms of Indian mythology,” he told fans and media.Directed by Shukla, ‘Baahubali. The Eternal War’ follows Baahubali into the afterlife, where he is embroiled in an eternal war across 14 realms between the Devas and Asuras.Speaking to Deadline after the presentation, Shukla revealed that the idea came from his own spiritual journey to a monastery in Gujarat. “I spent about four years in a monastery in India, from the age of 30 to 35,” he said. “There was a huge painting, a mural in the temple of the 14 worlds. That idea stayed with me for a long time.”Shukla said that producer Shobu Yarlagadda approached him after watching his animated feature ‘Schirkoa. In Lies We Trust’ and said, “He noticed that I had a good sense of scale and a lot of characters. He said that maybe we should try together. He is looking for the next Baahubali, but something very special. That’s how it started.”The filmmaker admitted that he was initially hesitant to take on the project because he is known for his ‘super psychedelic’ work, but added that the connecting thread was ‘world-building’.Sharing the biggest creative challenges while undertaking the project, Shukla said, was transformative. Prabhas:Baahubali’s iconic portrayal into animation. “It was a long process because we wanted to stylize him… if we try too hard to make it look like the actual Prabhas, it starts to look like a video game character,” he explained.“So there was a sweet spot that we had to hit where we were very, very religious with the style of this movie, but we were also religious with Prabhas’ fans. And Prabhas’ fans, you know, they’ll kill you. So we had to focus so much on looking like Prabhas, that it was believable. We went through a lot of iterations, which was quite painful for him.”Paris-based animation director Antoine Charreyron, who worked on character designs with Florent Auguy and Dorian Marchesin under the banner of Alcide, said that the mythology proved to be too complex and that at first they expected it to be like ‘The Lord of the Rings’. “We thought it was easy. It’s Lord of the Rings. Devas and Asuras are elves and trolls. That’s a mistake, it’s deeper than that. There are 14 kingdoms, lots of details… and every detail has a meaning. That’s why it’s so interesting. “CGI supervisor Simon Brown, who joined the production in January, confirmed that work is now progressing to full scale. “We are deep into production. We are building hundreds of characters, creatures, animals, props, vehicles, creating 38 environments in multiple realms.”Shukla added that the film is now targeted for completion in the second half of 2027, with plans to return to Annecy next year to show more footage from the project.