Baahubali - A Visual Extravaganza!

In an era where the hype and expectation created among the theatre going audience drives a film's box office run, there are very few films that satisfy the masses, the rest of them just test their patience. What is the height of expectation in Tamilnadu? A thalaivar movie. In recent times, for the first time, a non-thalaivar movie has made into the elite-club with protagonists who are aliens to tamizh audience, with a director whose name is "engayo kaeta kural" to tamizh audience, with technicians entirely new to tamizh cinema : baagubali - the beginning (let this be a beginning to my review, am still not out of the baagubali mode).

Keeravani's soulful melody for the title track might be a surprise element for a much awaited, a mass-appealing period drama. But, the opening scene that follows, makes you realize that you have been prepared for that, throughout the title track. A ponniyin selvan inspiration is evident in the first sequence itself. Rajamouli's team has scripted each character in the drama. The amount of paper work gone into just penning the character's look, the CG work involved in creating a-close-to-reality fictional period drama, the art work involved right from designing a handy knife, a sword and weaponry for warfare to erecting high-raise sets of the empire, the thought process involved in visualizing the vyugaas for the war sequence, the attention to bg score is definitely a showcase of the talent powerhouse Indian cinema has. 

Baagubali - the one with strong arms - to justify this title, there is too much of spoon-feeding from rajamouli, as the lead character (prabhas) lifts a lingam singlehandedly and swims across the river, prevents a 100 ft tall falling statue from hitting the ground - more of a USP to attract telugu audience. The gravity defying stunts can be crazy but the camera angles and crisp editing makes it watchable. All except 2 songs blend with the screenplay and vaikom vijayalakshmi's voice for "siva sivaya poatri" is the best. The romantic song for prabhas and tamanaah is a distraction to the story line, but a sure connect for baagubali-the conclusion (watch it in theatres to get into the mode). Why does rajamouli want an item number for an otherwise spectacular movie? - proves to be a dampener. Rajamouli's cameo is not worth mentioning (mentioning it as he is the master brain behind this epic movie).

Anushka's fans would have been disappointed as they have to wait for the sequel to see her in full form. Tamannah as a brave young rebel plays her role perfect, the sword fight she performs is stylish, but her acting is overboard while showing anger and vengeance. Rana dagubatti's physique makes him a perfect villain and his eyes give the perfect backstabber look. And again, there is a bull-taming sequence for him, which is for telugu audience. There are two show-stealers - ramya krishnan and satyaraj. Ramya krishnan portrays a bold, brave queen and her voice and dialogue delivery suits her image. The scene where she quickly pulls out a short knife, utters "nari thandhiram illai, raaja thanthiram", cuts open the enemy's throat sends a shiver down your spine. Satyaraj has the most memorable dialogues in the movie. His role as a slave to the magizhmadhi arasu is perfect. Again, he shines as the most sought after supporting actor in recent times. "Thanthavargal irantha poathilum, thantha vaaku irakkavilaalyae" receives a thunderous applause when satyaraj delivers it. He shows anger, pity, loyalty, empathy, bravery, guilt in various frames - one hell of a role for him. Prabhas screen presence is brilliant, the bg score adds weight to it.

The art director sabu cyril makes you go jaw-dropping. The camera goes like a snake to picturize the beauty of cyril's sets making it a spectacle. A kingdom with highly erected fortress walls surrounded by a pool of crocodiles is more of an inspiration from tipu sultan empire. The picturization of this empire (most probably a set with some decorative cg work) is terrific. The first time the empire is shown - Camera swims on the pool of crocodiles, swings and zooms out to cover the full front elevation of magizhmadhi empire, zooms in and travels between the highest kalasaas in the entrance into the compound, picks up the brutal scenes of slaves being tortured, mamool vasool and flies into an open ground and goes on a brake-slamming mode only to stop at the foot of Rana. (Go watch it in theatres).

The climax war sequence keeps you engrossed with the strategies they employ, an inspiration from sivagamiyin sabatham. Though the stunts are unbelievable, it is gonna attract kids. Satyaraj's narration of the flashback is flawless and his voice in bg takes you to the kadhai kalam. The film ends with many unanswered questions, a perfect plot for a sequel.

To end, what is baagubali? A historic movie? A period drama? A commercial potboiler? It is definitely not a historic movie. It is a commercial fictional period drama taking inspirations from epics like mahabharata and other tamizh novels.

Awaiting baahubali - the conclusion!