Baahubali Movie Review

Cast: Prabhas, Rana, Tamanna, Anushka, Satya Raj and others

Directed by: SS Rajamouli

Produced by: Prasad Devineni, Sobhu Yarlaga

Banner: Arka Media

Music by: MM Keeravani

Release Date: 2015-07-10

Bahubali released amidst unprecedented hype and expectations. This Rajamouli's folklore drama garnered the eyeballs nationwide with some mindboggling visual effects. Touted to be the India's biggest motion picture Bahubali raised so many expectations just because of Rajamouli's brand. With more than 150 crores riding on the film everyone is expecting nothing short of a classic out of it. Did Rajamouli deliver? Did Bahubali live up to the humongous expectations?

What is it about?

Ballaladeva (Rana), a cruel king is ruling the kingdom called Maahishmathi, where the people are tortured by his men. He takes Devasena (Anushka) as captive after killing her husband. Devasena lives with the hope that her son Shivudu (Prabhas) would return to put an end to the evil deeds of Ballaladeva. Grown up in a tribal area far away from Mahishmathi, Shivudu comes to rescue Devasena in order to fulfill the wish of his girlfriend Avantika (Tamanna). But people of Mahishmathi sees Baahubali (Prabhas) in him. Rest of the film is about Baahubali's past.

Performances:

Prabhas:

Prabhas played dual roles in this film and has worked hard to show the difference in his looks and physique. His lean and athletic build as Shivudu is superb and the bulky build to suit Bahubali character is phenomenal. This shows the dedication of the actor. His performance is good but should have worked a bit on the diction.

Rana:

Rana is a revelation in the role of Ballala Deva. He should consider himself lucky for bagging this role that has scope for exhibiting various emotions. He has done a superb job as the antagonist and surely one of the major plus points in this film.

Anushka and Tamanna:

Anushka has a limited screen time in this part but she made an impact with power packed performance. Tamanna plays the glam doll and she is alright.

Ramyakrishna and Others:

The standout performance in Bahubali - The Beginning comes from the ace actress Ramya Krishna, who just outshines everybody with her stellar act. Mamatala Talli song sequence shot on her is one of the best moments in this film. Satya Raj as Kattappa is good. Sudeep did a cameo. Sesh Adivi, Rohini and Tanikella Bharani are adequate.

Technicalities:

Rajamouli:

Rajamouli is perhaps the only Telugu director who always aims to push the envelope. A film of this scale wouldn't have been possible without a director like Rajamouli. His vision and imagination are instrumental in taking our cinema to whole new level in terms of technical brilliance. There are some magical 'Rajamouli' kind of moments in the film that masses would go frenzy. But the problem with Bahubali lies in its script that is unnecessarily stretched out. Rajamouli fails to get the emotions right in this film, might be because of the story being divided into two parts.

Keeravani:

Keeravani's music is just okay. There is nothing exceptional about it. Keeravani usually stores his best for Rajamouli's films. But he has hardly impressed in Bahubali even with the background score. Songs are alright but not as appealing as we expect them to be.

Senthil and Others:

Senthil's cinematography is splendid. He and art director Sabu have brought the imaginary world of Rajamouli to life. Visual effects are great. Probably the best ever in an Indian film. Action episodes are done well. Peter Haynes deserves a pat for his awesome work in that breathtaking war episode. Producers have a big heart and nerves of steel for sure. A project like Bahubali needs passionate producers and Rajamouli is lucky to find these gentlemen.

Thumbs Up:

Visual Effects

Rana

Ramya Krishna

War Episode

Thumbs Down:

Uneven Screenplay

Stretched out Sequences

Abrupt Ending

Analysis:

Baahubali - The Beginning delivers what it promises. It is a visual feast with the art, camera and vfx departments working hand in hand. Bahubali is truly a few notches above regular movies. It has maintained world class standards in terms of visual effects. This movie deserves a watch just for the hard work of the passionate team and also for those stunning visuals.

Sadly there is nothing more to Bahubali besides the visual extravaganza. It has a beaten to death revenge plot that has been stretched out with some absolutely ridiculous scenes that doesn't help the movie in anyway. For instance Avanthika and Shivudu's romantic track is pretty lame and seems out of place. The movie takes an eternity to engage the viewers. Lackluster screenplay has to be blamed for it. We get to see the real Rajamouli's stamp only towards the interval sequence.

One would expect the film to raise the bar after Baahubali enters the scene. There is nothing that would connect with the audience as it seems like the director is passing time to end this so that he could have enough content for second part. War episode is visually wonderful but it is overlong and seems clumsy after a while. The biggest gripe of Baahubali is its abrupt ending that was inevitable. Rajamouli the genius filmmaker should have come up with far more pleasing climax so that the audience would have left the theaters with a satisfied feeling. A lot will depend upon how the masses react to this ending.

To put it bluntly Bahubali is Rajamouli's weakest script to date! However it is visually mind-boggling that we could excuse some of its shortcomings. Wish Rajamouli comes up with a packed script in the second part. On the box office front, Bahubali - The Beginning will surely shatter the records irrespective of its weak points.

Rudrumadevi may be delayed?

According to sources in the know, the much-awaited magnum opus Rudhramadevi, directed by Gunasekhar, might not hit the screens on June 26 as scheduled. Contrary to the plans, the movie would be delayed. "Due to extensive CG work, the film might not be released on time. Gunasekhar is busy monitoring the computer graphics. He's not compromising in the quality of product and hence it's delayed," said a source in the production house.

Gunasekhar has put all his efforts and soul in this film and has been working hard on the film for the past three years. Featuring Anushka Shetty in title role and Rana Daggubati in another lead role, the film has Allu Arjun playing pivotal role Gona Ganna Reddy. The ensemble cast includes Prakash Raj, Nithya Menen, Krishnam Raju, Catherine, Aditi Chengappa, Hamsa Nandini and more.

Made with a budget of Rs 60 Crore, the film has seen several delays so far. Given that Rajamouli's epic Baahubali is due for July 10 release, Rudhramadevi might come only after it. An official announcement regarding the film's postponement is awaited. 

Anjali clarifies rumors on Anushka's Bhagmati

Ever since Pilla Zamindar director Ashok has kick started his latest movie with Anjali in the lead, there are rumours that this young Telugu beauty has grabbed the offer from the hands of talented Anushka. However, truth seems to be something else, as Anjali clarifies that there are two film in the foray from this director's stable.

Breaking news is that director Ashok has two movies up his sleeve, one is 'Bhagmati' with Anushka in the lead, and other one is 'Chitrangada' with Anjali playing the central role. Both are different movies with different scripts and right now Ashok is getting ready to carve both flicks simultaneously. As per insiders, already shooting of Anushka starrer Bhagmati has started. Both are female centric films and that's why a confusion has started if Anjali has grabbed Anushka's movie. That's the story readers!!! 

Anushka in between NTR's "Temper"

At a time when audiences will take break from Jr NTR's for a mere 15 minutes, then Anushka would show her breathtaking acts as queen Rudramadevi. Yes, the trailer of much awaited 'Rudramadevi' is likely to be screened during the the interval of upcoming Temper. 

Director and producer of epic flick Rudramadevi 3D, Gunasekhar is eagerly waiting from a time to find right opportunity to push the trailer of this multi-crore budgeted flick into audiences. We hear that he is pretty excited to push it along with Jr NTR's Temper, as that flick is likely to get stunning reception from audiences due to its sheer intensity. Though some post-production work is still pending, Guna is racing against time to bring this Anushka, Rana and Allu Arjun starrer's first trailer into theatres from February 13th when Temper hits cinemas. Let's see.

First Tamanna,then Anushka

SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus production Baahubali, has been the most awaited films of the TFI and one on the Indian screen. There is no exaggeration to that statement.The heavy-budgeted movie has been in production for more than two years. And all the promos that have been release so far received tremendous response from audience.Its known that Anushka is playing important role in the film and the 32-year old actress will be seen playing a warrior princess as Devasena.

But some reports from film nagar have informed that Anushka role will not be present in the first part of ‘Baahubali’. Rajamouli has decided to go with a different screenplay for this film and he sacked role of Aushka for the first part.

The first part of the film shows Prabhas along with Tamanna and there is no scope for Anushka role. Prabhas will be seen in a double pose in Baahubali and Anushka is donning the role of a mother to one of those 2 characters.The role of Anushka will be introduced in second part and it have stunning impact on the film’s story.

Prabhas is playing lead role in both parts of Baahubali and Anushka- Tammu are playing love interest of Rebel star in the movie. Rana plays the brother of Prabhas in the movie and will be seen in a negative character. Like every movie of Rajamouli, Baahubali will be high on Rajamouli mark commercial elements and graphics. Now the entire team of Baahubali has shifted their focus to post production work to meet the dead line of release in summer, 2015.

Anushka to build houses for her staff

Popular Telugu heroine Anushka Shetty is now following the footsteps of her latest co-start, the white haired superstar 'thala' Ajith. Both these lead actors are going to entertain audiences very soon with their "Yennai Arindhaal" that is going to hit screens in February. As they get ready to rock, here comes how our heroine took a clue from her onscreen hero.

Showing his humane side, Ajith has recently got a dozen of houses constructed for all of his staff at the western coast of Chennai, from drivers to gardeners. Even Anushka is treading in the same path as she is getting ready with similar gifts. We hear that she has acquired land in Hyderabad to build houses for her staff.

"As a heroine people admire me and some worship. But all that credit for my looks and work equal goes to my staff too. So i've decided to give them something in return for their valuable services", says Anushka. Probably our star heroes might follow her suit in a short while. Good job Anushka!!! 

Baahubali is getting ready to hit screens on summer

For sometime, there is talk that Bahubali is engulfed in financial mess. As there is no word from producers about the status of the production of this Rajamouli directorial, probably rumours found their way around. As we dug deep into our sources, this Prabhas, Anushka, Rana starrer is way ahead of its schedule and everything is going as per schedule to get the film into theatres for Summer 2015.

Currently, Rajamouli is gearing up for the shooting of patch-work scenes of Baahubali, which may take a week to complete. Once this is wrapped, a couple of songs will be left for shooting. Post-production wise, lead actors Prabhas and Rana have completed their dubbing for Bahubali Part I already. Even the voices of Anushka, Tamanna, Ramya Krishna, Nasser and others are also dubbed. Sound mixing is going on one side and Keeravani is busy posting background score on another side. Apart from this, what are the major pawns involved to be moved to make sure the film's release in theatres?

Surely VFX is the major part of Baahuabli and studios located in India, Hongkong and USA are racing against time to finish complete work time. As Rajamouli demands huge quality in record time, VFX studios made sure that they start all the work much earlier. Almost 85% of the work is complete already. Going by this report, we could easily say that Baahubali 1 will arrive on time.

Prabhas, Rana and Anushka get busy

After a short vacation, the cast of Baahubali have joined the post-production phase. Currently dubbing works are going on for the Telugu version of the movie. SS Rajamouli shared the news, "Telugu dubbing work for Baahubali has started. Tamil version Mahaabali's dubbing starts soon."

Actors Prabhas, Anushka Shetty, Rana Daggubati and other principal cast have joined the dubbing portion and lending their voice. Buzz is that maverick director is taking extra-care on dubbing and making sure every word is pronounced rightly as it's a historic film. The first version of magnum opus is due for April 2015 release. After rigorous shooting, Mr Rajamouli has announced 5-month break for the shoot. Post which , he will be shooting the remaining portions of the sequel.

Anushka comments on Rudramadevi

South Indian beauty queen Anushka Sheety has admitted that she is proud to act in the forthcoming epic movie “Rudramma Devi’ under the direction of Gunashekhar. She says she was able to learn sword fighting and horse riding because of the director and entire until has done hard work for movie. Anushka in her tweeter a social networking site said “Finally we are done with the shoot! It’s honor to play the role of Rudhrama Devi”. She also said Learnt sword fighting and horse riding for it, everyone on the set has  worked hard to produce the best output. Hat-off to Guna Shekar sir for his guts to handle a ferocious subject like Rudhrammadevi”. The movie is produced by Gunashekhar under banner Guna productions and stylish hero Allu Arjun is playing the role of Ganagunareddy and music is composed by Illayaraja.