Baahubali The Conclusion (2017) (Telegu Tamil Hindi)

Bijjaladeva (Nasser) in Bhallaladeva’s (Rana Daggubati) presence, along with his cronies, rants and raves about his wife Sivagami (Ramya Krishnan).  He believes that they should kill her and pave the way for Bhallal’s coronation.  He calls Katappa (Sathyaraj) a dog (kutta).

As he calms down, Katappa enters and over a few dialogues, he calls Bijjal a nitwit for thinking of killing his wife.  Bijjal is shocked and says, “Tumne sun liya”? (you heard?).  Katappa replies, “Nahin.  Kutta hoon, Soongh liya” (No.  I am a dog.  I smelt it – loose translation of course.)

Just one of the few high points of probably the most awaited sequel in Indian cinema – EVER.  Sadly, these high points are restricted to just a few.  And before you go ahead with this blog, let me guarantee you that there are no spoilers.  No. This write up doesn’t have the answer to the most elusive question in people’s minds for nearly 2 years, “Katappa ne Baahubali ko kyon maara”? (Why did Katappa kill Baahubali).

S S Rajamouli begins the concluding part of his magnum opus in continuation with where he left off.  With Katappa narrating the story of Amarendra Baahubali.  A few stunts and not so great Special Effects (SFX / CG) with elephants, the story moves towards what should be the official coronation of Amarendra as the Emperor of Mahishmati.

But before the coronation, Sivagami orders Baahubali and Katappa to take a tour of the lands – as a king should normally do – to get a feel of what the people have in mind.  Dressed as village bumpkins, the two find their way to a small kingdom where you have the second high point of the movie – The entry of Maharani Devasena (Anuskha Shetty).

While it brings back memories of Avanthika’s (Tamannah) entry in The Beginning, this one, I believe – was much better.  Rajamouli teases the audience for at least a minute and a half before she storms into the scene.  Much like a Maharani (Empress) should.  Simply brilliant.  Beautifully shot. Needless to say, they fall in love.

The not so great part though - ₹250 crores ($35 million or thereabouts) later and having generated revenues of ₹500 crores ($70 million or thereabouts) - the effects of Baahubali : The Conclusion are nowhere close to world class.  In my review of Baahubali : The Beginning (http://kartikr.blogspot.in/2015/07/baahubali-beginning.html), I had quoted that it can only get better from here.  Sadly I was wrong.

While CG does not form a major part of this installment (in comparison to the earlier part), it exposes the lack of desire in India to take that risk and spend more in making a great movie.  It is definitely better than what we see regularly but it doesn’t take the standards set by The Beginning can move it to – in the immortal words of UB40 – higher ground.

The casting and performances, however, more than make up for this gap in Effects.  Anushka as Maharani Devasena is superb.  And while Prabhas will hog the limelight for being Baahubali, an epic without an equally epic villain is no epic at all.  Rana Daggubati and Nasser pass this test with aplomb.

Without the cast and without Rajamouli’s vision of making a GRAND movie, Baahubali would have been just another average ordinary everyday run off the mill product.  Instead, you get one that cannot be seen on the small screen.  IMAX it if you can.  And yes, you can take your kids along as well.

For those who missed the first part, it is available on hotstar. The link is given below

http://www.hotstar.com/movies/baahubali-the-beginning/1000074338/

Happy viewing. 7 on 10.

Watch the trailer of The Conclusion on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1969010201