Baahubali

Rating : 7/10
Release Date : 10th July, 2015
Time : 159 minutes
Director: SS Rajamouli; Writer: V Vijayendra Prasad; Music : M M Keeravani
Starring : Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Tamannaah, Anushka Shetty, Ramya Krishnan, Sathyaraj, Nassar



Karan Arjun (with a dash of Johar) meets Telegu film sensibilities meets Game of Thrones in a romantic, period drama, action thriller. Good fun, if you’re a fan of the genre and don’t mind being entertained emotionally (and loudly) vs logically…

Simplistic storyline goes somewhat like this. Young baby, carried by noble lady (Ramya Krishnan), is chased by bloodthirsty soldiers at the bottom of a giant, humungous waterfall. The baby, the only survivor, is adopted by a tribal chieftain but always yearns to go on top of the waterfall. After repeated failures, succeeds one day, when he’s grown to be a young, strong man (Prabhas), inspired by a feminine wooden mask, which falls from above. He finds another world at the top – revolutionaries (including his female, Tamannaah), struggling to overthrow a tyrant king (Rana Daggubati), who is protected by a loyal chieftain (Sathyaraj), sworn to protect the throne, despite his disapproval of the way he treats and has imprisoned an old lady, Anushka Shetty, who is awaiting the arrival of her supposedly dead son to avenge her…

Now, at every step of the way, add in hyper-emotion and hyperbole, and you get some sense of what awaits you…

Great special effects (think almost, about 60-70% The Mummy level) and our instantly likeable hero, Prabhas (switches seamlessly from romance to action at the flick of a switch), keep us entertained even when the story drags a bit. The dubbing feels a bit odd at first but you get used to it pretty soon. Tamannaah (could this spelling, be, anymore complicated?), luckily has dresses shorter than her name, and does justice to her fighter revolutionary role too. Sathyaraj & Ramya are very impressive, as is Rana in role in which he matches the hero step by step for the most part.

Period dramas, if done right, not only inspire awe and grandeur but also help transport you to other realms. A measure that they did succeed comes from the fact that you almost feel cheated when you realize that this is the first part of a two part series...and the story is left tantalizingly poised at an intriguing juncture…