Epic Conclusion – Bahubali 2

Finally, I made it to the movie yesterday. Here is the long story of efforts that I had put in, to make it to conclusion of Epic series. I know pretty much everyone in AP and TS would watch the movie, irrespective of what anyone says about it. Go for it, unless you have been living in a cave, and have not yet watched it yet. But do watch it, with toned down expectations (if that is really possible). You would love it more. Few had actually messaged me and asked why I did not write about it. I haven’t because, it took quite an effort to get a movie ticket to watch the epic conclusion in Hyderabad. Here is what I thought about:
Getting to the point quickly:

I went to the movie with pretty high expectations. It is practically impossible to go to BAHUBALI sequel without decent sized expectations. Obviously, contrary to my expectations, I have experienced, fewer “Awe” moments, compared to the first movie. However, I have thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and looking forward to watch it again on IMAX screen next week, most likely in NYC. Here is what I liked.  There are several reasons for liking it, though very few are listed here.  It takes a day or two (or couple of more viewings) to reminisce what I loved and keep refreshing this list.

  • First half. It is full paisa vasool (as they say colloquially in Hyderabad, means full ROI on my ticket price, not that it takes a fortune to watch a good movie in Hyderabad)
  • Seamless integration of VFX and Live Action. Huge leap for Indian cinema
  • Overall drama, which reminded of intense political drama from Mahabharata series or most recently in House of Cards too
  • Introduction of the lead character was pretty intense and awesome.  Top notch performance by all the lead and supporting starts
  • Loved the lighting inside the palace, and dark mood that is set when plotting sabotage
  • Sound track for most part of the movie, as drama gets unveiled, when things are going great, and then things are not going great for Bahubali
  • Archery battle duel (jointly Anushka and Prabhas together) seemed romantic, while being heroic and high adrenaline at the same time
  • Overall cinematography, landscape visuals,  stunts inside the palace and on the battlefield
  • Scenes leading to interval, and final betrayal, and post betrayal moment; Overall emotional content and gripping narration
  • and more to be written, post second view of this epic conclusion on IMAX

My FB friend “Aparna” wrote in her review, and fully agree, with regards to moral learnings from the BB2.  Each character has some to teach each one of us.

‘Accompany your kids to this roller coaster ride. Believe me its far better and worthwhile than the series of Superman , Spiderman and Avengers all put together! Let Baahubali teach them value of righteousness at all costs. Let Devasena teach them the spirit to fight for self respect and what is right. Let Bijjaladeva teach them that sibling rivalry, jealousy and cunning do not pay. Let them know that its not power of authority which conquers the people’s heart but its power of love. Let them understand that even wisest and best people are susceptible to dangerous follies. Let them have the reaffirmation that Good prevails on Evil, still and always!’

Most important lesson for me was both from Sivagami and Devasana.  Sivagami character tells how easy to be susceptible to go to the dark side, making decisions based on someone else’s opinion.  Devasena character teaches the impact of grey area and crossing the line in the name of  self-respect  ?

SUMMARY: While I felt that last 20 minutes was stretched a bit, yet again I felt that the concluding portion of movie was little abrupt and rushed.  However, I walked out of the screen, with full content of watching a good movie, and with lots of pride feeling that Indian cinema has finally arrived.

Yes, GO WATCH IT !!

FULL WRITE-UP:

Few years ago, I ran into SS Rajamouli while waiting for the elevator at InOrbit mall.  Me and my family coincidentally were coming out of same movie in the mall.  We all smiled at him, as we entered the elevator.  We were together with him for about 15 seconds in the elevator.  Shiri who was with me, starting chatting with him, and raved how she loved Eega (which was released few months ago at that time).  I asked him, what movie is he doing next.  He said he is working with Prabhas, and when we asked which one, he said “Bahubali”.

Few months later, I started reading about the grand vision behind bahubali, and have begun tracking everything about it.  However, my dream of watching Bahubali on day 1 did not materialise, as I had to travel to a country where Bahubali was not screening. I cursed my bad luck at that time.  I returned back to home few days later, and watched the movie and experienced several instances of “Awe” moments, once in Hyderabad and then once more in New Jersey, few weeks later.  Last time, I felt such an “Awe” moment was when I witnessed Brachiosaurus Dinosaurs in “Jurassic Park” , decades ago

I have been waiting for the conclusion of the Epic series for a while now.  I was not really waiting to find the reason why Kattappa killed Bahubali.  It was clear that he is bound by the allegiance to Mahismati ruler and can easily guess the possible reasons.  However, I was curious to see few more instances of “Awe” moments in the Conclusion.  However, though I was in town this weekend, I could not see the movie on Day 0 (Premiere Day), as it wasn’t easy to get the tickets.  Revanth said with great pride (evoking tons of jealousy) that he got a ticket premiere show. I tried doing an emotional blackmail asking him to give up his tickets, for what I did for him for last 22 years.  It almost made zero impact to him, and did not budget in.

I wished, I was out of the country this time, as Bahubali is released almost in all the countries around the world (including small town in NZ, where there are just few 1000 Indians), and it would have been lot easier to get tickets, even for a premiere show.

Day zero passed away.  On the day 1 (Friday), my brother Suresh (who is known to have all types of connects in the city) offered me 6 tickets for a shot at Noon.  Everyone in the family, went to the movie, except me, as I had business commitments at the work.  BookMyShow indicated that shows were sold-out for next several days.  Day 1 passed away, with me not getting any tickets.

On the day 2 (Saturday) morning, I posted in my family WhatsApp group that I am the only in the family, still haven’t seen the movie.  Suresh immediately replied, “I will get you the tickets for Day 2”.  I joked with him, I will name my grandson name as “Suresh”, if he gets the tickets for me.  Suresh called me at 2PM, and said, “Go to Count number 10 @ Prasads Imax” and ask for “XYZ”, and pick-up 5 tickets, and the movie starts at 3:30PM.   He said, they may not keep the tickets on hold for too long.  I was on the office at that time (though it was Saturday) due to unexpected business rendezvous. I did not want to risk losing the tickets, and asked Suresh to send someone to pick-up the tickets for me.

I asked my colleagues, if anyone would join the movie. Who wouldn’t?  Venky, Prasad, and Nag almost yelled “Jai Mahismati” and said YES. I called Prakash (my cousin) on the way to movie, if he wants to join, as the 5th person in the gang. He said, he is available. I asked him not to take a risk, and suggested him to take uber and join me at the big screen.  Finally, we made it to the PrasadZ, and were lucky enough to get middle row, middle seats, from F19 to F23, which offered wider leg room, and further enhanced our experience of watching the epic conclusion.

Here is my take on the movie:

I went to the movie with pretty high expectations. It is practically impossible to go to BAHUBALI sequel without decent sized expectations. Obviously, contrary to my expectations, I have experienced, fewer “Awe” moments, compared to the first movie. However, I have thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and looking forward to watch it again on XD screen next week, most likely in NYC.    Here is what I liked.  There are zillion reasons for liking it, though very few are listed here.  It takes a day or two reminisce what I loved and keep refreshing the blog.

  • First half. It is full paisa vasool (as they say colloquially in Hyderabad, means full ROI on my ticket price, not that it takes a fortune to watch a good movie in Hyderabad)
  • Seamless integration of VFX and Live Action. Huge leap for Indian cinema
  • Overall drama, which reminded of intense political drama from Mahabharata series or most recently in House of Cards too
  • Introduction of the lead character was pretty intense and awesome.  Top notch performance by all the lead and supporting starts
  • Loved the lighting inside the palace, and dark mood that is set when plotting sabotage
  • Sound track for most part of the movie, as drama gets unveiled, when things are going great, and then things are not going great for Bahubali
  • Archery battle duel (jointly Anushka and Prabhas together) seemed romantic, while being heroic and high adrenaline at the same time
  • Overall cinematography, landscape visuals,  stunts inside the palace and on the battlefield
  • Scenes leading to interval, and final betrayal, and post betrayal moment; Overall emotional content and gripping narration
  • and more to be written, post second view of this epic conclusion on IMAX

My FB friend “Aparna” wrote in her review, and fully agree, with regards to moral learnings from the BB2.  Each character has some to teach each one of us.

‘Accompany your kids to this roller coaster ride. Believe me its far better and worthwhile than the series of Superman , Spiderman and Avengers all put together! Let Baahubali teach them value of righteousness at all costs. Let Devasena teach them the spirit to fight for self respect and what is right. Let Bijjaladeva teach them that sibling rivalry, jealousy and cunning do not pay. Let them know that its not power of authority which conquers the people’s heart but its power of love. Let them understand that even wisest and best people are susceptible to dangerous follies. Let them have the reaffirmation that Good prevails on Evil, still and always!’

Most important lesson for me was both from Sivagami and Devasana.  Sivagami character tells how easy to be susceptible to go to the dark side, making decisions based on someone else’s opinion.  Devasena character teaches the impact of grey area and crossing the line in the name of  self-respect  ?

SUMMARY: While I felt that last 20 minutes was stretched a bit, yet again I felt that the concluding portion of movie was little abrupt and rushed.  However, I walked out of the screen, with full content of watching a good movie, and with lots of pride feeling that Indian cinema has finally arrived.

Yes, GO WATCH IT !!

maxresdefaultbaahubali-2-new-posterbaahubali-2-first-lookmaxresdefault-min (1)mighty-prabhas-in-this-new-bahubali--hzb

4 thoughts on “Epic Conclusion – Bahubali 2”

I publish a blog post almost every weekend. Do leave a note or hit like or hit follow, so I know you have stopped by

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.