Animation is the only way to bend the rules and continue the story of Amarendra Baahubali, who dies in the first part of SS Rajamouli’s period epic ‘Baahubali: The Beginning’, says animator and director Ishan Shukla.

Shukla has been roped in by Rajamouli to create the animated world of ‘Baahubali: The Eternal War’ and its follow-up.

The young director sees limitless possibilities in the way animation can expand the Telugu filmmaker’s original vision that spanned two blockbusters in ‘Baahubali: The Beginning’ and ‘Baahubali: The Conclusion’, released in 2015 and 2017, according to a PTI report.

“This is the best way to continue Baahubali’s journey instead of making a sequel or a prequel for the sake of it. It really feels like the most organic progression of his story,” Shukla told PTI about the new movie that will see a fight between gods and demons across 14 realms as Amarendra Baahubali enters the afterlife.

Rajamouli’s live-action franchise centered around Mahendra Baahubali who aims to avenge the death of his father, Amarendra Baahubali, and free the kingdom Mahishmati from the tyrannical reign of his uncle Bhalladeva. In the movie, Telugu star Prabhas essayed the role of Amarendra and his son Mahendra, while Rana Daggubati played Bhalladeva.

There have been many projects that spawned from the original franchise, including the animated series ‘Baahubali: The Lost Legends’ and the novel ‘The Rise of Sivagami’. Shukla believes the use of animation to keep Amarendra alive after his death was justified.

“I felt that the use of animation was perfect in it because there is only so much you can do in live action. Sometimes it can be too cartoony, but I could really take a leap in animation and it would make sense even if I bend the rules of the world a little bit,” the director said.

“I make films the way I think– it’s always something which is larger than life… I thought cosmology, specifically the Vedic cosmology, was the perfect place to take the ‘Baahubali‘ live-action films, and really bring on all the freedom that cosmology can give you in terms of how much we can accomplish in these different worlds because the rules of these worlds are so different,” he added.