Baahubali: The Beginning, 2015 — ★★★★
The movie which got Salman worried about, set records of booking queues and movie poster sizes, spawned a series of WhatsApp jokes, would definitely one of its kind. Baahubali did all this with ease and also put the word grandeur where it belongs. With Baahubali, the Indian film industry turns a new leaf.
Long since we have had debates about how the industry is stuck in the vicious cycle. The audience doesn’t want to see something different and hence filmmakers don’t make anything different. Filmmakers had a similar complaint. Lately, we are seeing a change in it. Baahubali fits perfectly in it. I don’t know we have had a live-action film of that grand scale before.
Baahubali is a story of an empire and its kings. It is the high fantasy rendition we have been missing even though India is blessed with loads of mythological content to fuel such films. There is no point writing about the plot as the movie is more about how well it is executed than what it is. At least I had entered the theaters for the visuals and the movie delivered.
The long time it took in the making has really paid off. I specifically recall the crown Bhallala Deva wears in one of the scenes. The intricate work on that crown shows the painstaking efforts that have gone in every detail. At the start of the film, it feels that the movie is unsure of the path it wants to take regarding its special effects. They have a Kung fu Panda style animation and glossy frames, they have Avatar style surreal frames, in some of the frames you are reminded of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings. It is good that the movie takes these decisions in first half and hour and continues on those lines. The final path chosen is pleasantly Indian with the polish from the Hollywood team which was flown in for the work.
There are specific scenes which leave a lasting impact even after you have left the theaters. Apart from the one I already mentioned, here is another one. The Mahishmati Idol. The movie has an extended war sequence which starts with a ceremonial prayer to Goddess Mahishmati. The terrifying grandness of that idol is unprecedented. In the ceremonial sacrifice, the blood splashes on that stone black idol and drips down. It is a not a long scene. This particular moment lasts for second of two, but the effect it has on you is captivating. At least in the action movies, we need such brutality to amplify the effect of the scene. I guess in these aspects, we ought to learn a thing or two from our south Indian counterparts. Bollywood has enveloped itself in the romantic mishmash, and the sharp depictions of war, brutality, grandeur are nowhere to be seen. It is as if the current Bollywood generation is sanitized with an excessive depiction of romance.
Not everything is worth taking, though. Like the navel obsession. Arguably, Tamanna’s navel makes more screen appearance than her face. It and few ther over the top emotional presentations constantly remind you that you are watching a south Indian film. I remember how Rana felt consistently out of place in the movie baby, but here he fits perfectly well in the line of hunks that we see.
On the acting front, there is just one name that stays long after you have moved out of theaters, Katappa. The subservient helplessness, the determined commitment, the glare of aggression, he carries it all effortlessly.
After a slow first half, the movie picks up speed after a couple of romantic songs. Hopefully, the romance is mostly done for and the second installment will have some serious war sequences. Needless to say that such high fantasy movies remind you of LOTR, and I guess the balance between action and drama was very well executed by Peter Jackson.
This movie makes me hopeful. We are on our way to make an epic Mahabharata war. We are still a good 5–10 years away from the finesse required for that level of execution, but we are on the right track. I will give it a four.
