Baahubali: The Beginning - Colosseum comes alive!

Directors who've made a name for themselves for unleashing extravaganza on screen constantly look to up the ante with every film in order to make sure the bar stands quite tall for anyone to catch-up. In Kollywood it is unquestionably the territory of Shankar who has been executing lavish projects time and again with his masterful strokes that would most likely please the senses of the masses and classes. In Tollywood, SS Rajamouli seem to have got that sort of a reputation, not only for his ease of executing projects of such magnitude (250 crores INR), but for the finesse that he adds in sculpting the nuances in each of his scripts and the characterization that he etches out on screen.

Baahubali’s plot is a tried and tested story of sibling rivalry that is set against a mythical timeline. So if one expects an intense plot with twists, then some disappointment is in tow. But if you’re prepared to sit back and allow yourself to drench in the film’s magnificence, you’re sure to get spell bound. Even if a producer is willing to spend lavishly, there should be a director to spend sensibly - call it the art of spending. Rajamouli at the helm does just that and deserves an honorary salute.

The plot in general was driven by the powerful characters and the intricate detailing with which they were portrayed. There were so many strong supporting characters as that of Kattappan (Sathyaraj), Rana Daggupathi (Palvaalthevan), Nassar (Pingalathevan), Ramyakrishnan (Sivagami) and Kalakeya war lord (Prabhakar) who were given ample space to perform in their own capacity and do justice for their roles. Sadly Anushka Shetty’s role that was meant to anchor the story was given little space and I felt it was underwritten. It might have been intentionally kept under wraps so as to reveal its significance in the upcoming part.

One can keep on heaping praises for the detailing SSR had in place for each scene. Be it the huge sets of a beautiful waterfall, the ice covered hills, a raging bull that was created using CGI (but why was it mentioned on screen as “CGI” - damn the censors) and other little things that took a graphical form without teasing our senses, stand for a well-deserved applause. The war scenes and stunts in general are in a different league. SSR has set a very high benchmark for many filmmakers who are aspiring for such giant leaps. Another example for such detailed nuance is the language that was spoken by the Kalakeya war lord. They call it “Kilikili”. But it is spoken with a dialect that has an inherent “pop” sound that is made intentionally by the speaker - that conveys a lot in terms of the mood of the mythical era and is bound to stoke the interests of many linguists around the world!

Technicality in the movie is the core. Senthilkumar’s cinematography was exquisite and editing was crisp with clearly defined cuts. Keeravani’s songs served largely as fillers, but the one that was played during the start and end title cards did have a mesmerizing effect.

With all this, I do have a few reasons to crib even as a viewer, let alone the critic within me. Tamanna as that of Avanthika initially surprised me with an action introduction. Everything went on well until she met Baahubali where they immediately broke into a song where she revealed literally everything (off screen)! From then on Baahubali took the driver’s seat and she was kind of forgotten. Also an item number before which the director himself makes a cameo appearance to give us a cue to go for a fag was quite unwarranted. It was like the law of averages for scenes was catching up by then. Thankfully, they seemed to look like an after-thought so that their removal in the future might hardly cause any ruffles in the feather.

However the verdict is out in the public - the movie has almost collected its claimed making charges of a little over 250 crores within a week of its release - the costliest film to be made in India is turning out to be the highest grossing one in India. I’m not surprised with this fact - after all this movie is straight out of the gut from a man who made a house fly pursue its revenge and presented it with conviction. It’s undoubtedly a masterstroke from the director. Eagerly awaiting the conclusion - bring it on!!

Verdict: Go for it!

Rating: 3.5 / 5