Bahubali: The Beginning

Ratings
(My Ratings - 8 out of 10)
(IMDB Ratings - Bahubali: The Beginning)
(Rotten Tomatoes - Bahubali: The Beginning)

What's it all about
The story of the movie is about many things - relationship between two brothers - one good and another evil, revenge of a son whose parents have been tortured, back-stabbed or killed, story of a child who was born in adversity but destined to be the emperor. However this movie is definitely not about a story, this is about the vision of a director who dreamed big. So big that it is now India's the most expensive movie till date, so big that it broke all records of box office collections, so big that it is now talk of the town in Hollywood circuits.

Cast and Crew
Director: S S Rajamouli
Screenplay: S S Rajamoul
Actors:  Prabhas, Rana Daggubatti, Anushka Shetty, Ramya, Satyaraj, Naseer

Review
Well to start with, I must make an honest and candid confession - I didn't have much of hopes or expectations from this movie before I stepped into theatre and grabbed my seat to watch it despite knowing director's earlier credentials and knowing how much they have spent to make this film. Many times it happened in past that such big budget and ambitiously made projects failed miserably on box office. But did it surprise me after relishing every bit of its grandness, oh boy, I would say it swept me off my feet. No hopes or expectations certainly helped me and I believe many others like me to enhance my pleasure to watch and enjoy this magnum opus.

It's grand and huge in stature like the statue of Bhallaldeva in movie but at the same time feet on grounds and not taking viewers for granted, it has visuals so spectacular that words like "jaw dropping" and "breath-taking" feel real but at the same time not much sense of artificial graphics in these visuals which puts viewers off, it has sets so royal and so lavish that Mahmud of Ghazni would be tempted to be born again and attack on it but at the same time not drowned in its own lavishness and deviating from the overall plot. In nut-shell, I would say that this is not merely a film, instead its an event, an experience in itself which every movie lover should go to, watch, enjoy and to be proud of.

It is really a proud moment for Indian film fraternity and every movie lover in country that India is no longer a country which produces films with special effects which are actually a mockery of computer graphics and VFX. Bahubali has almost put India in the league of Hollywood movies. Why I said almost is because in some scenes, graphics still look raw (or Indian I would say) and artificial such as avalanche scene or bull fighting scene but overall a great commendable job by the team.

The story of this film and for second part as well I assume is nothing new and has been told several times. It is absolutely predictable and there is no thrill in it. Therefore I will not spend much space to describe the story. Director is very clear in his intention with ending of this film and overall plot that he does not want audience to think on questions like who killed Bahubali and what will happen next in second part but he wants us to mesmerized with grand epic he created on celluloid.

The cast of the film is one of the highlights and definitely one wrong choice in one of the major characters could have jeopardized the overall fate of this movie. Prabhas who played both Bahubali and Shiva is breathtakingly awesome in this movie. By looking at his personality and adaptation to the character, it does not feel correct or legit in thinking that anyone else would have justified this character better than him. Rana who played Bhallaldeva is also equally up to the character and a perfect match for Prabhas in opposite role. Anushka doesn't have much role but it is expected that she will get her due in second part. Tamannah looks pretty in unnecessarily inserted songs but too little, too soft for a warrior girl (reminds me of Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss in Hunger Games). Ramya who played Shivagami and Satyaraj who played Kaddapa are the other two strong pillars along with Prabhas and Rana on which Rajamouli's huge, heavy and epic vision lies comfortably.

The review of this movie will be incomplete and meaningless if not mentioned about the epic war scene in second half of the film. This is piece de resistance of the film.  If this war scene is removed from the film, it will fall flat on grounds and therefore calling this war scene as lifeline of this film will not be wrong at all. Its beautifully directed and minutely crafted a piece of art. Its not only about action scenes which gives goosebumps and edge of the seat kind of thrilling experience but also about detailed planning and strategy of moves, character display of two princes in similar circumstances, the brutality and goriness of opponent and motivational dialogues in between.

Despite its many highlights, there are certain drawbacks as well in this film. Songs are not great (at least in dubbed versions), after a great start film becomes suddenly dull and slow, reasoning of Shiva's mountain climbing which he dreamed from his childhood is absolutely horrible and unacceptable, love affair scenes between Shiva and Avantika are not carefully thought off and it looks like director rushed into it suddenly. But all of these drawbacks are in first half. Second half pulls the film and puts it into a different world altogether. Be it flashback story, be it epic war scenes, be it Bhallal Dev's birthday celebration or be it the fight scene in night in which Shiva kills Bhallal dev's son, all are absolutely world class and magnificently directed.

Rajamouli has definitely created a master-piece in his first volume and expectations are really high from him to at least match the same brilliance in second part. It will be difficult task but many of his fans including me are hopeful that he will not disappoint us and despite having so huge expectations, he will still be able to surprise and enthrall us with his grand vision and dream once again. It is a long wait till 2016 but definitely a wait worth wait for. I would highly suggest you to watch this epic and experience its every details. Such films are not often made at-least in India and definitely not by typical Bollywood directors. Take a bow, Rajamouli for dreaming this big!!