BAAHUBALI MOVIE REVIEW

Baahubali, directed by the talented S S Rajamouli who is known for his extraordinary thinking, is touted to be the most expensive Indian film. The grand visuals and the brilliant film-making of a fictional tale on royalty and its associated setting clearly justify this statement. This is the first version of Baahubali and the second is expected in 2016 as revealed in the credits.

The film opens up majestically with Ramya Krishnan carrying an infant and running for her life. From then on, Rajamouli starts narrating his story in a linear direction that takes the audience through beautiful mountains, waterfalls, intriguing caves, royal kingdom, imposing war zones with gallant men and beautiful women guiding us.

Story-wise, Baahubali could be called as an offshoot of Mahabharata which is about the fight for a kingdom among the members of a family.

For a generation which has been subjected to contemporary and social premises, Baahubali comes as an all new experience which is regal in itself. Rajamouli handholds the audience to a different time zone where there are kings, queens, palaces, breathtaking sceneries and the likes.

Casting is perfect and Prabhas steals the show imperially. His intro is colossal that is accompanied by deafening applause. The man suits his role every bit and his chiseled body that captures quite a few frames would surely be the envy of every man. He is good in action, emotions and romance too; a perfect combination indeed! Rana Daggubati gives a tough fight to Prabhas in terms of his looks but has a little in this version.

Ramya Krishnan plays the pivot and her gorgeous but stern appearance and dialogue delivery command respect. For Tamannaah, there is more of action than romance and the svelte beauty is quite convincing in her role as Avantika. At his age, Sathyaraj’s agile action moves are praiseworthy. Kicha Sudheep and Rajamouli himself appear in cameos.

Technically Baahubali scales the greatest heights in Indian cinema. The CG works and the grand setting are terrific and completely in line with what the team promised in their trailers and promos. The avalanche sequence and the battle scenes are evidences of this. The hard work and the sweat needed for each and every frame is palpable that warrant a royal salute to Rajamouli and his team. Kudos!

Madhan Karky’s dialogues add the native Tamil flavor and his work pertaining to creating a language for the Kalakeya tribe is noteworthy. Keeravani’s scores are perfect for the story that is set in a different time period which is lilting at times and is majestic when needed. Senthilkumar’s cinematography is excellent, bringing out the vision of Rajamouli eloquently.

On the downside, the first half takes its own sweet time to unfurl which could have been avoided. In the second half, the battle scenes although very intimidating, jaw-dropping and brilliantly done, could have been a little shorter. And for fans of Anushka, it appears like they would get to see more of the beauty in the sequel. The ‘Manohari’ number in the second half strikes out as a sore thumb but is choreographed well.

Summing it up, Baahubali is a terrific testimony to what Indian films can do in terms of grand and flamboyant film making and would surely be a landmark film in the annals of Indian film history.