It's quite possible that the Indian cinema landscape will now be
divided before and after Baahubali. Filmmaker SS Rajamouli, who has
consistently delivered innovative mega-scale productions, crushes the
envelope with this epic warfare drama, a film that's overwhelmingly
powerful in treatment, style and scale with a somewhat simplistic
story holding it all together.
The first half is about a naive Shiva (Prabhas) growing up in a
picturesque village that is shielded by a stunning waterfall. He is
unaware of his royal lineage and is happy flexing his biceps,
uprooting Shivlings and trying to scale the waterfall. He grows up to
believe that a secret lover resides on the other end of the fall, a
plot device that takes the narrative forward, motivating the
Spartian-esque Shiva to continue his mission. Here, the film veers
into magic realism and the supernatural and the love story - Tamannaah
Bhatia is introduced as an assassin of an underground cult - unravels
through a series of combats and kisses, mythical songs and
CGI-butterflies. What is exceptional is the seamless transition of
Tamannaah from being the face of murderous rage to the one discovering
the pleasures of romantic love. It's sappy and sentimental, but so
brilliantly choreographed, it is nothing short of an epic love story
told in some 15-odd minutes.
While Tamannaah does a good job of looking irresistible (Fortunately,
she isn't required to do much otherwise), Prabhas shines with a
self-assuring swag, charming screen presence and the occasionally
goofy smile.
In one jaw-droppingly immersive sequence, the lovers need to escape a
snow-capped region where an army of men are vying for their blood.
Prabhas perches himself atop a small cliff, manages to pull off a
monumental snow-storm that eats up the army while the couple escape on
a make-shift sledge, comfortably diving over a death valley. This
reminded me of Inception's fight sequence in the snow, and in
comparison, Nolan's show looked relatively pale.
From epic romance, the film shifts to epic battle in the second-half
where a gigantic Rana Daggubati is seen fighting off blood-thirsty
bulls as he presides over the kingdom of Mahishmati. Art
director Sabu Cyril does a phenomenal job with the impressive details
that he brings to the kingdom, one that resembles a spectacular city
slowly turning into ruins.
It is then revealed that Rana and his brother (Prabhas in a double
role) had to ward off an approaching army of a crazy tribe to claim
the throne and become King. And here's where Rajamouli has the most
fun. He orchestrates, in great detail, a warfare so epic that it is
impossible to take your eyes off the screen until it turns into an
assault on the senses, which it eventually does, maybe in the last 5
minutes.
Just like 300 wasn't for people wary of gore, Baahubali's violence is
graphic to the point that you see body parts flying off as if they
were confetti popping out of loose packets. Both brothers try to
outshine each other by applying insanely cool mechanism to chop off
the creepy army (they talk gibberish, their eyes come out of their
skulls and they're generally unhygienic) and the bloody finale is so
deliciously stunning, the canvas looks breathtaking and this will
compensate for your over-priced admission ticket.
So one must hand it out to Rajamouli for pulling off a film with no
great performances and a wafer-thin storyline, solely with the power
of his imagination and a vision so strong that a sequel set for 2016
has already finished production.