Friday, April 28, 2017

Bahubali 2 : The Conclusion Review


CAST
PrabhasRana DaggubatiAnushkaTamannaRamya KrishnaSatya RajNasser and Others
Director - SS Rajamouli
Producer - Sobhu Yarlagadda, Prasad Devin
Banner - Arka Media Works
Music - MM Keeravani
The epic conclusion of the most awaited Baahubali is here. SS Rajamouli who has set the benchmark pretty high with his vision and grandeur in the beginning of Baahubali has exceeded expectations yet again with the conclusion. This is easily the most hyped movie ever in Indian cinema history. Rajamouli like always has managed to meet the sky high expectations with his immaculate imagination and great vision.

What is it about?

Amarendra Baahubali (Prabhas) goes on a pilgrimage to know the problems of his people. He comes across the princess of Kuntala, Devasena (Anushka) and falls in love. He doesn't disclose his details and goes along with her. Devasena also falls for him. Later she comes to know that he is Baahubali, the King of Mahishmathi. However, Devasena gets into the bad books of Sivagami (Ramya Krishna) due to Ballaladeva (Rana). Baahubali is forced to choose either the throne or Devasena. He chooses the latter and Ballaladev is crowned as the King. But he is not happy with it as he couldn't win people's love and respect like Baahubali. So a conspiracy is cooked up by Ballala and his evil father Bijjala Deva (Nasser). Baahubali gets killed by Kattappa (Satya Raj) and Mahendra Baahubali wages war against Ballala to avenge his father's death.

Performances:

Prabhas who looked jaded and subdued in the first part is in his elements in this one. His voice and demeanor suited the role of a king. While he is extremely good as Amarendra Baahubali, he did an okay job as Mahendra Baahubali. Rana is pretty impressive as Ballala Deva who is jealous of Baahubali's charm and popularity. He is like a raging bull in the climax fight. Anushka takes the cake with a wonderful performance. It is easily the best performance in her career so far. Ramya Krishna is superb as the mother caught between two brothers. Satya Raj enlivened his character and Nasser is excellent as Bijjala Deva.

Technicalities:

Rajamouli focused totally on emotions and the drama. It is his forte and the master filmmaker excels in bringing out the best from his actors. There is his stamp all over the film that sometimes his vision overshadows the actors. It is a dream like movie for any filmmaker and Rajamouli brought it to life. His vision and imagination is unbelievably astonishing. His deft handling of Kattappa killing Baahubali episode shows how good a filmmaker he is. Rajamouli is arguably the best director in Indian cinema industry at the moment. While there are directors who attempt such movies, no one can even come close to him in terms of vision and execution.

Keeravani's music is excellent. It is one of the finest works of the legendary music composer. Although Keeravani excelled with BGM he couldn't come up with catchy tunes. The cinematography of KK Senthil Kumar, without which, Baahubali would not be such a visually rich experience. Art department's work is praiseworthy. Visual effects are stunning all through barring a few glitches here and there. Editing is alright. They could have done with the lengthy romantic episode of Baahubali and Devasena. Producers should be lauded for making a film of this scale without any compromise. Without them Baahubali wouldn't have been possible.

Thumbs Up:
Rajamouli's vision

Emotional quotient

Pre interval episode

Cinematography

Thumbs Down:

Unnecessary comedy in first half

Weak climax  

Analysis:

If Baahubali: The Beginning is all about visual grandeur and graphics, The Conclusion focuses on the emotional conflict of the principal characters. Movie starts off with a stunning scene where Bijjala asks Ballala to kill his mother to which Kattappa comes up with a deadly retort. Baahubali's grand entry with the elephant scene is breathtakingly beautiful followed by a well choreographed Bhali Bhali song.

Tempo slips a bit after that as Baahubali gets into romance zone. Devasena's introduction scene is yet another fantastic moment in the first half. Romance episode of Baahubali slows down the pace but the story gains momentum as Ballala gets into his evil act. Baahubali taking on the attackers of Kuntala is one of the best scenes which demands repeated viewings. Rajamouli like always stores his best scene for the interval episode which will give goose bumps. People shouting Baahubali's name while he is taking oath as the commander in chief and Keeravani's spectacular background score makes it one of the best ever scenes in Rajamouli's films.

While first half is all about Baahubali's heroics, second half focuses on his righteous nature and his life as a commoner. Screenplay loses momentum as the plot thickens. Special efforts have been put to make the 'Why did Kattappa Killed Baahubali' episode to live up to the expectations. One would expect the confrontation of Mahendra Baahubali and Ballaladev to be an epic, but it is very underwhelming. Even the climax war scene is a bit over the top and unconvincing. This may disappoint fans that are expecting another Kalakeya kind of war experience.

People that have complained about lack of emotional depth in the first part will surely be thrilled with this one as it is an emotional roller coaster all the way. But people that are expecting another spectacle like the first part will be left disappointed as Rajamouli bravely sticks to the story rather than the visual grandeur. As a film, Baahubali 2 is definitely better than its predecessor and is also one of the best works of Rajamouli. It is surely worth the hype and all the existing box office records will eventually bow down to its might. Go watch it in theaters.

Verdict: Sahore : Bahubali
CINE GOSSIPS RATING : 3.75/5

No comments:

Post a Comment

Bahubali 2 : The Conclusion Review

CAST Prabhas ,  Rana Daggubati ,  Anushka ,  Tamanna ,  Ramya Krishna ,  Satya Raj ,  Nasser and Others Director -  SS Rajamouli P...