Bahubali, the biggest Indian motion
picture is now in theaters!! It is a historical fiction Telugu-Tamil bilingual
dubbed into Hindi, Malayalam and French!! If you haven’t seen it yet, book your
tickets to live through grandeur of medieval times of India, experience
strength of our warriors and understand power of women in olden days. It is a
must movie for every macho man, who thinks listening to woman is a sign of weak
man. The movie shows you how women were power centers in ancient India, how
mothers/wives were treated in ancient India, and that a woman & man
complement each other, neither of them is superior.
I am not a movie buff, I selectively watch movies and this is
the first time, I am writing about one. But #Bahubali is not just a movie, it
is an experience!! More than grandeur/visuals of the movie, I liked the
characters. Typically, Indian movies show hero as the strongest, most handsome
and most generous – all the goodness in the world in one man. But, in
#Bahubali, every character is important, every character connects with you and
talks to you:
A magnanimous queen who can side
mother& wife in her for the welfare of her kingdom (Ramya Krishnan as Sivagami)
A caring mother for whom her
child is her world (Rohini as Sanga –
Shivudu’s mother),
A loyal servant – Highly
skilled, dissatisfied but loyal (Sathyaraj as
Katappa),
A captivated & tortured queen – an epitome of
self-respect (Anushka Shetty as
Devasena)
A shrewd father who wanted to
live his life again through his son (Nassar as
BjjalaDeva )
A powerful warrior with thirst
for power (Rana Daggupati as
Bhallaladeva)
A noble king who knows how to play his
strengths to protect his subjects (Prabhas as
Bahubali)
A son/lover who could do anything
for his mother and girl (Prabhas as Shivudu)
Spoiler Alert: No Comedy track, you just smile/cry but you wouldn’t laugh!!
Well, I felt Avanatika character was the weakest in the movie. I
didn’t connect with Avantika and Tamannaah didn’t fit the role of Avantika.
I do not want to be a spoiler, so I am not talking about
specific scenes. Do watch it yourself!! With IMDB rating of 9.4/10
(highest for an Indian film), you wouldn’t be disappointed at all.
80% of all Indian commercial movies beautify woman and in many
movies heroines are no brainers, they are present only to virtually &
visually romance with viewers (including a few of Rajamouli’s own movies). In
many of our families, we think listening to woman is sign of a weak man, but
this movie shows you that strength of a man is in respecting women. You need to
listen to a woman when she has a point, and a woman has to be strong to drive
her point. Not just in Palace, even in tribal setup, villagers respect
Sanga’s words and feelings!! A man beheads another for the vulgar comments he
made on a woman (even before knowing she was his mother).
If you keep comparing this movie with counterparts from
Hollywood, you would lose what movie had to offer you – that emotional connect
with characters!! Given all the constraints, it is a great Indian movie, which
would stand tall in Indian Cinema books. If you think, only “Hero” should have
70% of the screen-time, this movie is not for you!!
Some said, Bahubali script is weak. I didn’t find it weak,
every story can be narrowed down to three feelings – Love, Revenge and Call for
Duty – so is Ramayana, Mahabharatham… and is Bahubali. It is not about content
of the story but it is about how you tell a story!! Rajamouli is a spectacular
story teller. Bahubali is not an
entertainer, you need to use your brain a lot. There is no chronological order, it moves back and forth in time
and place – you need to connect the dots. Especially, you need to do lot of
brain work to understand the war strategy.
Preferably, watch it with family and let your children learn
about ancient culture, our powerful warriors, and war strategies. Let them
understand how women were treated in ancient times, at least some of them would
understand that women are not weaker sex and learn to respect women when they
turn into adults.
All said, Bahubali – 2 looks evern more promising as you get to
see more of Bahubali, Bhallaladeva, Devasena, Katappa and Sivagami.
