Bāhubali: The Beginning

While his films since Magadheera have become ambitious in terms of scale and narrative, SS Rajamouli is at heart a masala filmmaker and arguably, the best one we have in our country right now. You just have to look at how he gives every major character in Baahubali its own heroic introduction to realize how keenly he is attuned to the pulse of the audience and knows what button to push to make them cheer. We marvel at the hero's strength when he uproots a massive Shivalingam and carries it over to the waterfall; we are awestruck by the heroine's beauty and later, her bravery; we are thrilled when we see an aging warrior show his skill with the sword and terrified seeing the villain bring down a raging wild bull with his bare hands, and stirred by another lead's speech even as we are shocked by her appearance. These are terrific masala moments and Rajamouli shoots these scenes in rousing fashion and packs them in at regular intervals that we are constantly in thrall.

Shivu (Prabhas) is brought up by tribals but he is forever fascinated by the huge waterfall in the forest and keeps trying to scale it to see what is out there. A wooden mask gives him the drive to do it and he meets its owner — Avanthika (Tamannaah), a warrior who belongs to a rebel group trying to rescue their queen Devasenai (Anushka), who has been chained by the kingdom's evil ruler Palvaalthevan (Rana Daggubati). Shivu offers to go on a rescue mission little realizing how deeply he is connected to the characters involved in this game of thrones.

Baahubali's narrative is influenced by everything from the Mahabharata and other Indian folklore to Rajamouli's own Magadheera. The backstory, involving the titular character Baahubali, is in fact, very much in the Mahabharata territory. Cousins, one good at heart and another evil, who are competing for the throne, a statesman warrior who is noble but is tainted because he is loyal to the wrong side, a scheming father who wants the throne for his son a...

This review applies to the set of two films: The Beginning and The Conclusion.

As narratives go, there is some great storytelling in this film. That is perhaps what makes this such an awesome film. The action and feats are wicked fun, of course, but they're not devoid of context as so many action films are. The story serves the action and vice versa. It's a fun movie all around.