For a long time, I
don't remember struggling for tickets. Multiplexes and apps had just made
things too easy. But then, India's most expensive film to date, Baahubali
seems to have changed the whole demand game. Instead of media hype that is
typical of Bollywood, it was actually word of mouth publicity that got
many people to watch the film. Consequently, movie screens were almost full and
finding tickets was tough.
The story of
Baahubali has everything that a political tale from the era of kings
would have. There are cousins battling for the throne, played by Prabhas, as
the protagonist with superhuman strength playing Baahubali and Sivudu
and Rana Daggubati as the formidable antagonist, Bhallaladeva. Tamannaah
(forget the ever changing spelling) Bhatia plays a masked tribal warrior girl
Avanthika and Sivudu's love interest.
Talk about wars
and kingdoms, comparisons with '300', 'Game of Thrones' or 'Troy' and their
likes are natural. In reality, filmmakers have very little latitude in the variety
of stories that can be portrayed and it is also possible that some copied/
inspired scenes may emerge, for all we know! Still, one mustn't forget that SS
Rajamouli's Baahubali is a story on political dynamics that are not unusual
in Indian history and epics.
The lead cast is supported
by strong performances from Ramya Krishna, playing the matriarch Sivagami
and Satyaraj as the brave, but morally obligated Kattappa and Nasser as Bhallaladeva's
father Bijjaladeva. Minor roles include that of Anushka Shetty as Devasena and
Sudeep as Aslam Khan, who may have bigger roles in the sequel.
Bang for the buck
comes from visual effects that are comparable to any big budget
flick involving VFX. The scenes involving the gigantic waterfall and bull fight
are on par with the global best such as Avatar or Jurassic World. Having said
that, a couple of scenes, like the avalanche and some shots of capital city
could have been improved.
Complementing the
stupendous visuals was the flawless sound mixing. The dialog, sound
effects and the background score blend seamlessly. MM Kreem's ominous
'maahishmati saamrajyam' provides a perfect backdrop to the serious scenes. The
songs were decent, however none of them can be categorized as hummable.
Editing was perfect
in the second half, while the first half was quite shaky. The movie could've
taken more time to establish the characters but instead, some of scenes look
rushed up. Frankly, a few minutes of extra runtime wouldn't have mattered
if the transitions between some scenes were smoother.
With massive sets, everything
in Baahubali is on a grand scale. The Kingdom's capital was luxuriously
large and the waterfall was unimaginably gigantic. The war scenes
were realistic and captivating. Maybe, it would've looked tad more
realistic if the capital's sets looked a bit weathered. The costumes were well
done though.
The weakest area
in the film, that I could fathom was the make-up. Our filmmakers are
simply unable to get past the obsession of painting faces. Time they understand
that in ultra high definition of digital cinema, the make-up overdose look
uglier than blemishes on the faces, that are natural and acceptable these
days. This is one lesson that they need to learn from 'Game of Thrones' that
got the make-up spot on. .
The dubbing in
Hindi was well done. Nevertheless, it would have been better if distributors
had more shows of the original Telugu version with English subtitles
running in Mumbai's multiplexes. It would've helped retain the original
flavor of the film. Let's hope the distributors release the sequel on more
screens!
Rupees 250 crore
for two films may sound like a big budget. But, in dollar terms a 40 million
budget not actually big on a global scale. Yet, the movie has achieved so much.
it is therefore testimony to the fact that India has tons of talent and if
budget isn’t a constraint, in the right hands, unbounded creativity
can be unleashed in India.
A brilliant movie
like Baahubali coming from the South that is jeered for dark-skinned and fat stars
is actually a slap in the face for Bollywood that is churning out trash as
hits (at least for the likes of avuncular and narcissistic Shahrukh's Ra.One/
Jab Tak Hai Jaan or pseudo-intellectual Aamir's Dhoom 3 or a Salman who hasn’t
learnt one bit of acting in decades or Rohit Shetty blowing cars or Farah
Khan's outrageous plotlines).
Verdict: Sure as hell, Baahubali is no perfect
film. But, for what it's worth, watch Baahubali on the big screen and thus
discourage piracy This is the least bit that a movie fan must do to encourage
the good guys among Indian filmmakers to take bigger risks in the right
path and tell us bigger and grander indigenous stories.
Rating 9/10:
Deserves applause for taking Indian cinema to the next level
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