Bãhubali: The Beginning

3 years of sheer hard-work of many people who have worked their hearts out for this Visual Wonder has paid off well? Not exactly though, since the answer is simple and straight, you just have to wait for the 'Conclusion' till 2016 and that would decide the fate of this franchise on a whole. The story is paced slowly in the first half giving way and screen space to our Mother Nature's beauty and CGI's magic and one might find it a little too draggy if one considers 'Baahubali' to solely be a hero and since that's not possible, Shivudu has a love life and heroic nature and scenes of his own.Abrupt cuts and unconvincing CGI at certain places in first half are the only flaws with the whole film. Coming to the second half, one is told what he'd expect to be told, as the trailer tells the same. War sequences are really well shot and makes it hard to believe that they were actually made by Indians! One has to just bow down to Srinivas Mohan and his team for excellent CGI and Senthil Kumar for superb visuals. Our captain gives us a bang, as his trademark style known as 'Interval Bang' only at the end this time because technically this movies' end is the interval for the 2 parts taken as a whole. Art work in this Epic is just out of the world, kudos to Sabu Cyril sir and thousands of technicians who worked on this aspect.BGM is soothing for the first half which is apt for what we get on screen and the second half war episodes get the best of the lot BGMs to elevate the scenes. Songs are places really well except for 'Manohari' song.Dolby Atmos effect is an added attraction and I highly recommend people to watch this flick in theatres with this specific sound system, it will surely remain as a great experience for you. The sound effects are haunting, pleasing and give you goosebumps at the same time. Anushka had an extended cameo but did perform commendably well, special applause to her expressions. Special mention to Ramya Krishna madame, she was at her best! Katappa will blow your mind with his characteristics and Sathya Raj Sir does 100% justice to it. Though Prabhas and Rana Daggubati did well only their attitude in their respective roles stands out as the best because more of them is yet to come in the sequel. All you need to do is to watch the movie as it comes because expectations lead to disappointment. If you miss this movie, you've just lost a once in life-time 'Indian' movie experience on a big screen.

Fantastic music, fantastic story, characters are very enjoyable and it's fun to figure things out as it goes and of course your fantastic Bollywood moments thrown in~

Great cinematography with concept and story in it . Nice directorial work by S. S. Rajamouli and the budget reflects in a heavy content of the film . I thoroughly enjoyed the paid preview . Its a first real tribute from film industry to the greatest epics of all time "The Mahabharata" .

Luring action sequence and VFX and one of the nicest delivered again from south .

Making bollywood look bad again in India , its absolutely not catching up with the southern films .

I am a north Indian and not a great fan of south but they really making bollywood run for its money spree .

First I then Kanchana 2 and now the mighty Bahubali .

Story - 9/10 Acting - 8/10 Visuals - 10/10

Overall 9/10

I'm a big fan of Rajamouli, but this is not a biased review. The rating I gave is not just for Rajamouli but the entire unit of Baahubali. Right from the story which reminded me of all the beautiful Indian stories that were part of my childhood,(I'm getting back to reading Amar Chitra Katha now!!!) to every guy who says "Baahubali" in the movie. There were several scenes that gave me goosebumps, not scary ones but like those that put you in awe.

It should just get better from here for Indian Cinema. This should be the benchmark for story telling, direction, script, visuals, sets, screenplay etc.(but not for acting!!!)

The story keeps you hooked to the movie. I wouldn't say too many good things about the movie as they may contain spoilers. But I could compare the movie to a good mythological comic that you would like to read again and again.(So I'm watching the movie again tomorrow!!!)

But I would like to mention why I reduced the two stars 1. The make up was not at all good. Especially Anushka's

2. The costumes could be better, probably more realistic(if you compare costumes in Troy or even Hercules, they were more relevant)

3. At times people in the background were not true to the scene, my concentration was distracted due to some idiots who didn't match the scene. A few villagers, few priests, few classical dancers, few tribal guys. The Kalakeya warriors were amazing though.

4. WHO THE HELL CHOSE TO PUT AN ITEM SONG. There were many uufffs in the theatre at that time. How the hell did probably an eastern European end up in that.

5. There were a few glitches in the VFX, like whenever the hero is jumping around... it made it look unnatural. That's poor graphics. I'm not an expert on this but few of those jumping sequences could be avoided. You don't see them in Hollywood mythological except for superhero movies which are more convincing.

But not too many complaints about that as I understand there are certain budget constraints for VFX but Makeup, there is no excuse for that.

All said and done, it was a fantastic movie and worth the wait and ends with a nice climax which keeps you guessing the 2nd half story.

My favourite characters were Sivagami and Kattappa. I am in love with Ramya Krishna again. I'm watching it again tomorrow.

I was eagerly waiting for this film and I was not disappointed.

Baahubali is one of the most visually impressive films that have come from India. Everything about this film is good - Story, direction, beautiful cinematography, haunting score and amazing visuals (though they lack some details at some places).

I didn't know who Rajamouli was, basically because I am from North India and I don't follow south Indian cinema. But I am sure he is someone you should know about. SS Rajamouli is amazing. He has made something that we can be proud of. I was sure that the VFX would be good however I had a doubt about the story. Rajamouli proved me wrong with this film. The story and the execution is really good. Story takes elements from Indian mythologies (specially from the life of Lord Krishna) . You can not expect more. He took a big risk and made it big. This is what we need, good quality cinema. Salman fans should learn something from it.

All the actors are good and perform their part really well(except Tamanna. She tries too hard but fails miserably). In fact, Tamanna has been used as a plot device (A MacGuffin as Alfred Hitchcock used to call it). Prabhas is okay in the beginning but transforms into a behemoth during the second half. This guy is a natural. He doesn't act exceptionaly but his presence is enough to give you the feels.

The background score needs special mention because it is amazing. It is different from anything you have ever heard in India. The score that plays during war is haunting. (Clearly inspired from the LotR)

I would be lying if I didn't say that Rajamouli spent a lot of time watching The Lord of The Rings. Yes, some scenes will remind you of 300 and the Lord of The Rings but believe me it is completely different. He doesn't copy anything, he uses it as a source of inspiration. There is only one scene that I remember from LotR which has been used in Baahubali. But denying that he was influenced by Peter Jackson would be a big lie. Its a great thing that he was influenced by such a great film otherwise we wouldn't have Baahubali.

The quality of graphics work is very good. In fact its insane for such a cheap price given that Hollywood uses big budget for the same. The battle sequence is SPECTACULAR and reminded me of Battle of Helm's Deep and Pelennor fields from LotR.

But the movie is not without some minor problems. There are unnecessary songs which ruin the experience (I laughed so hard when Prabhas started dancing randomly. Everyone was looking at me.) and some parts are dragged (specially the first half) . Also there are continuity problems and some actors are over-the-top. Cut down the songs and edit the movie and voilà we will have a SPECTACULAR film.

Baahubali is not the answer to 300, Gladiator or The Lord of The Rings because saying so would be foolish. Don't compare this movie to the Hollywood ones because we still have a long way to go. It's not the Indian 300, its Indian "Baahubali".

So in the end, I would like to say - Go and watch it instead of watching the crap that Bollywood has been producing lately. Its something to be proud of. Book your tickets and watch this Indian grand spectacle. You wont regret it. P.S: I want to see Rajamouli doing "Mahabharata" next.