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.
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.
