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.

123+ crores are needed to declare Baahubali as a Super Hit

The craze speaks for itself. But there is prodigious hard work that produced such a hype as the feast of visuals offered by "Baahubali" are just impeccable. This hard work however demanded a stunning business of 123+ crores in the form of theatrical rights and what happens to his investment is something we will know in the coming days. 

Unofficial trade reports indicate that the whole Telugu theatrical rights for Andhra, Telangana and Overseas are sold out for nearly 91 crores by "Baahubali" producers. Tamil rights are shelled for 15 crores for Tamilnadu state alone while Tamil overseas distributors doled out nearly 4 crores for the rights. Hindi market though helped double the craze for the project, we hear that the theatrical rights fetched only 11 crores. Rajamouli's Malayalam entry is picked by 3 crores nearly by Mallu distributors. All in all, nearly 123 crores has to be recovered through 'shares' from the first part of "Baahubali", say trade analysts. 

Apart from the 123 crore theatrical rights, we have satellite rights sold out already. Sources revealed that Telugu satellite fetched nearly 13 crores, while Tamil went for 8-10 crores and Hindi too fetched similar price. It's surprising that Hindi and Tamil folks have paid similar price for theatricals and satellite. Including all these figures, we have to say that nearly 155+ crores business has happened around this magnum opus. 

Apart from scoring a blockbuster, the movie has to run consistently without opposition to pull every distributor and other businessmen to shores. Herculean task ahead. 

Rana: I miss my grandfather in this historic moment

July 10th marks the release of 'Baahubali' on silver screen. For Prabhas, Anushka and Tamanna, they have seen many big release in their careers and tasted blockbuster successes already though the magnanimity of this Rajamouli's creation is literally bigger than all of them. However things are quite new for Rana Daggubati, because this talented actor is yet to taste commercial success.

As Rana is quite confident that he is going to pull a bigger success with this mammoth movie, his thoughts are with his grandfather at the moment. This young actor feels that his grandpa, the legendary Ramanaidu would have felt proud not just watching his hard efforts but also the biggest motion picture ever made on Indian screen. Being a Guinness Record holder for making movies in many languages, this would have been a collar-rising moment for Ramanaidu because the industry where he made some golden films is coming out with this gigantic film. 'I miss my grandfather in this historic moment', says Rana.

Similar feelings are echoed by hero Nagarjuna when his father, the legendary ANR left this world all of a sudden, as cancer has eaten him away. Akkineni didn't get a chance to watch his last film 'Manam', where the three generations of Akkineni herores are featured. Hope all these golden idols of Telugu industry watch those films from heaven and bless cinema industry. 

Allu Arvind: special code printed as a watermark on the film "Baahubali"

Leading producer Allu Arvind has taken huge initiative of helping our "Baahubali" to crack whip on piracy doers.

In a candid revelation, the mega producer revealed how they got a Court order to control the Internet service providers in the case of a piracy. Praising the piracy cell heads and police, Arvind mentioned that they will bring all the perpetrators to justice in case if they catch any piracy prints of Baahubali doing rounds. 

"More than anyone, theatre owners should take care of this piracy. If anyone shoots a film with a camera in any particular theatre, we would know about it immediately because of the special code printed as a watermark on the film", he says, adding on more biggest punch. "If we find any theatre itself involving in this piracy scam, no doubt that theatre will be banned for one year from screening films". Also Arvind mentioned the need for all Telugu people to take care of Baahubali, because it is the most prestigious film for Telugus. Seems like Arvind is taking all the burden to safeguard Baahubali from the crows that want to eat it away. 

"It might sound bit exaggerated, but I'm in all senses to say, 'watching a film in piracy is like slashing mother's breast to sip milk. Don't do that" said Aravind. On the other hand, Rajamouli requested everyone to help them curb piracy. "Including theatres where piracy prints are being shot, all are members of film industry only. So, help us prevent piracy", Rajamouli said. 

Rana : Thank you for the Love

Even while he has been eagerly waiting for the release of the India's biggest motion picture, Baahubali, the macho Daggubati hunk, Rana Daggubati, has touched the magical 1 million followers mark on Twitter. Expressing his happiness on his memorable feat, Rana tweeted, "Thank you for the love!! #1M".

With this rare feat, Rana now joins Superstar Mahesh Babu and Akkineni Nagarjuna, the only Tollywood stars who have more than 1 million followers on Twitter. While Mahesh enjoys an envious adulation from his 1.3 million followers, Nagarjuna joined the 1 million club a week ago with little over the 1 million followers. Other top stars like Pawan Kalyan (4.7 lakhs) and NTR (3.6 lakhs) are yet to cross the half million mark.

Apart from Telugu, Rana also has a huge fan base among the Bollywood circuit, thanks to his hit films like Dum Maaro Dum, Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani and Baby etc. He is also in consideration for a couple of Bollywood films at the moment and his popularity will surely grow by leaps and bounds once Baahubali's Hindi version hits the screens across the country this July 10th. 

These heroes are ready to get insulted?

Apparently a live event titled "Knockout Roast" that was hosted by a popular YouTube based stand up-comedy group "All India Backchod" (AIB) has took Bollywood by a storm. Actually, Bollywood's two biggest heroes Arjun Kapoor and Ranvir Singh took part in this show along with Karan Johar only to get insulted by the 'insult comedy' which revolves around using cuss words and displaying derogatory gestures to abuse these stars. It's a brave attempt for sure, as India hasn't seen any such feat till date, though a lot of offense could be seen in it.

Every since this show's video went viral on YouTube, some movie lovers started to ask which Telugu hero would dare to do such a feat in Hyderabad? In fact, we don't have such sensible and popular standup comedians in our wood, but still couple of heroes are ready for this. Heroes Rana, Nani and Siddharth have immediately responded for the calls saying that they are ready to get insulted amidst of thousands of audiences. They gave nod for the 'boothu' roast that could really upset their friends and fans alike. At least we need to appreciate the daringness of these thee heroes to nod their head for such an act. 

Rana was slapped by his mother

Rana Daggubati, the giant of Telugu Cinema has got a tight slap from a lady. Do not jump in to conclusions. The lady is known other than Rana's mother. It was when Rana is studying his 10th Class. He is very poor in Mathematics and as a result failed in 10th. His mother was so angry with him and then scolded him for the failure. It was then Rana asked her not to ever interfere in his education.

Rana's mother replied with a very tight slap. "I felt so shamed that day. It was an inspirational moment in my life. I want to grow up in to a big man who can not be slapped by mother. Of course, that slap was the last one on my life", Rana revealed in one of his promotional interviews of his latest Bollywood release, Baby. However Rana mentioned that his grand father (Rama Naidu) never cared if he passed or failed.

On about the inspiration he drew from his grand father, Rana said, "Whatever wealth my grand father made, he put it back into films. He made money not to make money. He makes money to make more movies. And I want to replicate the same thing". 2015 is going to be a crucial year for Rana as he has two prestigious film, Rudramma Devi and Baahubali gearing up for release.

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.

Rana's perfect planning?

When you become a hero there are many aspects that need to be taken care of. It is not just the acting skills or the physique but also proper planning about career and the kind of films you sign. This is something the towering hunk Daggubati Rana seems to have grasped quickly and he is heading the right way.

After going through his share of bumpy ride during the early stage of his career, Rana has now taken an intelligent route. He is doing the important role of Chalukya Veerabhadra in the magnum opus 'Rudhramadevi' followed by the main antagonist role of Bhallaladeva in another magnum opus 'Bahubali'.

As if this is not enough, soon he would be seen in the Bollywood movie 'Baby' wherein he has shared the screen space with charming star Akshay Kumar. For this, Rana went abroad and did shooting so it is a mystery how he managed his callsheets and hectic schedules. That way, he is playing important roles in prestigious projects and at the same time he has also done Bollywood project. Now, he is doing another Bollywood movie titled 'Niaa' with the Bong bombshell Bipasha Basu. 

Rana back as simple as he was

Accepting  a 'big' movie surely brings in 'biggest' responsibility. For hunk hero Rana Daggubati, his 'hunk' tag just got doubled when he nodded to become the antagonist of Rajamouli's magnum opus 'Baahubali'.

To mimic a 15th century warrior character, Rana has to put on loads of weight by pumping iron rigorously in the gym. Selective diet, specialized training and weight-gain programs made him look like a crazy Hollywood size 'monster'. But all that is for 'Ballaladeva' role he played opposite Baahubali Prabhas. And now that his part of the shoot got wrapped, it seems like Rana has chopped down his Baahubali baggage.

Caught at the shooting spot  of Hindi movie 'Baby' featuring Akshay Kumar in the lead, Rana looked simple and slim like he was to earlier. His exaggerated muscles are toned and excessive weight is trimmed. Rana plays second lead in Baby and this flick is expected to become a game changer for him in b-town. 

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.

Rajamouli repeats Chatrapathi Sentiment

When his contemporaries spend Crores of rupees for film publicity, Ace film director SS Rajamouli almost gets it free for every film. Given his impeccable track record, every move of his is a sensation and headline for the media. So, Rajamouli uses his popularity intelligently. It is said that to market his upcoming film, Baahubali, the director is planning for a Cricket match.

Two of his giants, Prabhas and Rana will be captaining each side and their respective teams will be called as Baahubali team and Bhallaladeva team. The entire cast and crew of the film will be divided between both the teams. In general film makers do postpone their releases during Cricket season but Rajamouli is using the craze of the game intelligently for his movie. 

The idea is at very preliminary stage and the full details of the cricket match have to be emerged. Interestingly, Rajamouli employed a similar strategy for the promotion of his Chatrapathi film few years ago. Prabhas and Rajamouli captained each teams then in which entire movie unit is divided between.  One team consisting of artists was lead by the hero Prabhas. The other team consisting of technicians was lead by the director SS Rajamouli. 

Baahubali has Prabhas, Rana, Anushka and Ramya Krishna in the lead roles. The music for this film is scored by M M Keeravani. Sabu Cyril has created the sets while Senthil is handling the camera. The movie, which is produced by Shobu Yarlagadda and Prasad Devineni. under Arka Media banner and will be presented by K Raghavendra Rao. The first part will see the light for Summer 2015.