Matching up to Ramya Krishnan in the Baahubali series was challenging: Mrunal Thakur

Known as Bulbul from the TV show Kumkum Bhagya, Mrunal Thakur, has been roped in to play young Sivagami in Baahubali: Before the Beginning.

Mrunal will take the place of Ramya Krishnan, who played queen Sivagami in the blockbusters, Baahubali: The Beginning and Baahubali: The Conclusion.

The 26-year-old actor says the process of portraying a queen was not easy for her. "It was a little difficult as I know my character goes on to be the one who rules the entire Mahishmati," she says, adding, "She's got the sense of motherhood, and she knows what is right and what is wrong. She treats everybody equal no matter who it is. Through this project I'm living my dream."

For Mrunal, matching up to Ramya was challenging. "It's a big treat to work with this team. When I got to know that it was a Netflix project, I was even more excited. I was really very fascinated with the dialogue 'Mera vachan, mera shasan' (My word is my governance). That really attracted me," she adds.

She also says that her favourite moment was rehearsing with filmmaker SS Rajamouli. "For me, he is like the director to work with, so working with him was a delight."

The series, co-directed by Deva Katta and Praveen Sataru, is based on Anand Neelakantan's book, and also features Rahul Bose, Atul Kulkarni, Vaquar Shaikh, Siddharth Arora and Anup Soni.

"The live-action series backtracks about 50 years from the beginning of the Baahubali story. The film was about a singular conflict... now we are exploring a lot deeper into the characters, with a more epic way of storytelling within the Mahishmati world," says Deva Katta.

According to co-director Praveen Sataru, the series will have a pan-India appeal. "I get to shoot in the most exotic places from god's own country, Kerala, to the wettest place in the world, Cherrapunji. We shot a couple of sequences in Thailand as well. So, we are covering the length and breadth of India, and beyond. This is not just a south or north series. It's a pan-India series and you have characters from all across India."