Prejudice is something which has kept me away from South Indian movies. The same masala over the top loud action is what we expect from the movie industry down south. Bahubali seemed similar hence I wasn't inclined too much on this one too, in spite of all the hype surrounding the costliest movie that India has produced. But then I had positive feedback and I wanted to check out this one. So this review comes a bit late and by this time most of you must have already seen the movie.
The basic plot is a typical royal betrayal/revenge story based in ancient India. Initial few minutes of the movie are about the lead actor's struggle to ascend up the huge mountain, his homeland above alluring him. The first half is full of irrational random things. We were busy laughing on the inaccuracies in the plot and the picturization. Plus the dialogues are really silly. I initial thought that was because of the translation but some of them sounded equally lame in the Telugu version according to a friend. For eg This is the lamest pick up line you have ever heard, "Main ek ladka hun aur tum ek ladki ho aur hume pyar karna chahiye." And guess what this actually worked! What followed this was a love making session cum poorly translated song which came out of nowhere (Thats the only reason why Tamanna Bhatia features in the movie). The special effects were too good by Indian standards, although they reminded you of Hollywood flicks (Avataar meets Gladiator meets Ben Hur meets Game of thrones). By the end of the first half we were frustrated and wondered what made someone recommend this movie.
Then comes the second half. They say "Sabar ka fal meetha hota hai". And this time its sweet. Damn good, period! It will blow your mind. The battleground shots , the innovative battle strategies, the plot twists, the acting (especially by the Queen , Shivdamini played by Ramy Krishnan reminds me of Kirron Kher from Devdas (Watch it here)) . It will kept you glued to your seats. There was not a single moment where I could look turn around and comment, which was all I did in the first half. The action scenes and the battle strategies are especially innovative, well thought and well executed. The scene where Bahubali sledges off the prince's head is simply brilliant. That last one hour of the movie is what makes it brilliant!
Just like young Shiva climbs those huge mountains to become Bahubali. The movie too starts off like any other South Indian masala movie and then climbs on to become this epic phenomenon called Bahubali. Do catch this one in the theaters for all its awesomeness!!
P.S. Eager for the second and concluding half!
