P.S – No, why Kattappa killed Baahubali is not revealed…
“Baahubali: The Beginning” was an epic movie with a grandeur never before seen in Indian Cinema. But more than the visuals or action or sets, its USP was its thrilling screenplay. With no precedent in front of it, Baahubali had surprises and turns at every point with the revelation in the climax that Kattappa killed Baahubali making you leave the theaters wanting the sequel to come out sooner. Now the sequel after 2 years, “Baahubali 2: The Conclusion” is a good movie on its own and meets most of our expectations. The problem though is that it does not carry the unpredictability that its prequel had. You know how things end up for most of its characters. Also if you had paid little more attention to the last few seconds of Baahubali after the end credits and also the trailer of the new movie, you would have guessed lot more of what is happening in this sequel.
The first half doesn’t have much going in it until few minutes before the intermission. Sathyaraj is an actor who is very affluent in comedy. But since you have seen Kattappa in a serious avatar in the prequel , it does not sync with you when the character suddenly turns hilarious here and cracks jokes for a long period. A huge portion of the movie is dedicated to the flashback. After Kattappa finishes his story, the revenge portions seems to be hurried off with surprisingly very less significance for son Mahendra Baahubali in the screenplay. You blink and you might also miss Tamannah in the movie.
Now there are several things which works and which makes it worth your time and money in theaters. At the top of the list lies the movie’s terrific interval block. It was clever on part of SS Rajamouli to write a scene that is so much reminiscent and similar to the first part’s interval. Next the reason why Kattappa killed Baahubali might be predictable to an extent but the series of events that leads to that act is neatly written.
In fact 15 minutes before the interval to the first 30 minutes of the second half is the best segment of the movie. The scenes with Ramya Krishnan carrying the kid and escaping (which leads to the opening scene in prequel) does offer few goosebumps. Action scenes are mind-blowing especially in the climax. Certain techniques used like taking people to inside the fort above the huge walls shows a director who employs imagination and creativity in what he is doing. Some could argue that VFX doesn’t match with international standards , but there are rarely scenes that are uneasy to watch. In fact the entire movie is a feast to eyes.
Just like the prequel, M M Keeravani’s background score helps Baahubali 2 tremendously. He continues his habit of reserving his best bits for the most thrilling scenes. Among the actors, Prabhas, Sathyaraj and Ramya Krishnan walk away with honors with Anushka and Rana not far behind. Prabhas has the suave, physique and charisma and the character has grown so much on us over the last 3 years that it is by now tough to imagine any other actor in India who could have done justice to the part. Sathyaraj and Ramya Krishnan are gifted actors and Rajamouli gets the best out of them both.
The day you watched Baahubali, you were always going to know how this sequel ends. So Baahubali 2 was always meant to lose few brownie points for predictability. But one area where I expected it to do slightly better was giving equal weightage to the stories of the father (in flashback) and son just like it did it in the prequel. Still take away the comparisons with the first part, Baahubali 2 has enough in it to make it worth your time in theaters. Just like its predecessor, it takes Indian Cinema one further step forward when it comes to dreaming big and achieving the same.
Verdict – Good, though not a match to the prequel