SS Rajamouli is a filmmaker whose imagination starts where that of most others ends. Who else could have made an entire film with a fly as the protagonist (Eega, better known to us as Makkhi) or balanced a compelling drama with breathtaking action (Magadheera). With Bahubali — his pet project that has been in the making for years — SSR really pushes the envelope, both in terms of technique and narrative, to come up with an epic film that is sure to change the tone and texture of Indian filmmaking in the years to come.
Shot over some 400 days, prepped and edited for over a year and boasting hundreds in terms of cast and crew, Bahubali marries eyeball-grabbing special effects with a powerful story. In order to tell his tale of revenge and retribution, romance and betrayal, Rajamouli creates a fantasy landscape that is part Middle Earth from the legendarium of JRR Tolkien’s mytho-poetic works and part Pandora, the utopian planet from James Cameron’s magnum opus Avatar. This is a massively mounted film, with a budget in the range of Rs 220 to Rs 250 crore. (Yes, that’s probably more than the annual budget of Tollywood!)
The film begins with the story of Shiva (Prabhas), a young man of superhuman strength and charming disposition who is brought up by a tribal couple after they find him floating in the river as an infant. As he grows up, Shiva is enchanted by the imposing waterfall that separates his home from the kingdom of Mahishmati. His repeated efforts to scale the waterfall come to nought, but one day he manages to scamper across after being enamoured of the fiery warrior princess Avantika (Tamannaah). However, what starts off as an innocent pursuit soon turns into a mission for Shiva who lands up at Mahishmati to help Avantika rescue the ageing Devsena (Anushka Shetty), who has been held captive for years by the kingdom’s tyrant ruler Bhalladeva (Rana Daggubati). Before long, Shiva discovers that his roots lie in Mahishmati to which he has been sent for a greater purpose.
Boasting some of the best special effects and computer graphics ever seen in an Indian film, Bahubali holds the viewer’s attention from the get-go, even as Rajamouli uses his vision to explore a concept that is fantastical but with its roots planted firmly in engaging storytelling. The landscape is riveting with its play of water and snow, sunshine and rain, as one impressive action set piece follows another — from a bull-taming sequence that puts your heart in your mouth to a spectacular fight sequence in the rain, undoubtedly one of the best-choreographed war sequences on celluloid. But it is to the filmmaker’s credit that he doesn’t allow style to overshadow substance — a chase across the mountains is spectacular, but is also essential to the narrative; when he spends a good 20 minutes around the fanfare leading up to the unveiling of a mammoth statue, it’s because the revelation at the end of it will turn the tide of the story.
But Bahubali is not a film without flaws. The first half is often lacklustre and sometimes even laughable, but this is that rare film in which the drama and the action pick up post interval. By the time the climax dawns, the film is poised to take the viewer on an epic adventure, culminating in war scenes filmed over 30 minutes and challenging the scale of the combat scenes in some of Hollywood’s best, like Gladiator and Troy.
Despite the powerful VFX, Bahubali’s actual ace lies as much in SSR’s vision as the strength of the performances. Right from the moment he flexes those biceps to scamper up a waterfall to when he takes down the enemy with a single blow of his fist, Prabhas is quite the eye candy. He arrests your attention both when uprooting a Shivalinga and carrying it on his bare shoulders and when playing the tender lover. The scene in which he strips his ladylove with a sword — Zorro-style — is done as effortlessly as when he decapitates an enemy. Rana Daggubati is suitably menacing while Ramya Krishnan shines as the no-nonsense matriarch. Sathyaraj as the stony-faced yet loyal soldier propels much of the narrative even as Nasser holds his own as the slimy royal.
Bahubali ends on a striking note, paving the way for more drama in the second part that releases in 2016. For us, given the impact of the first film, that’s a long wait. Yes, it’s that rare film that makes a trudge through the flooded streets of Calcutta on a Friday morning worthwhile. Watch it before Bhaijaan storms in next Friday.
Bahubali is the most spectacular Indian film ever because....
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