Review of Baahubali: The Beginning

Whilst being touted as India's answer to Lord of the rings, Baahubali falls short of such Himalayan standards. However, by tollywood (or for that matter Indian) standards, it is exemplary. It is all too common to see heroes possess six-packs these days. However, in this movie there was a genuine point to all those biceps and triceps. The storyline is perhaps the weakest point of the movie. It is the cliché good nephew-bad son-sibling rivalry, etc. plot. The execution was beautiful. As many commented, the land is certainly no middle earth, but the fort, the battle sequences (especially the stratagems, while being inspired or perhaps even borrowed from 300 (the phalanx formation) or Lord of the rings (the battering ram) still left room for some creativity). Prabhas and Rana clearly worked quite hard for the stunts. While Anushka's role in this movie is limited, she had the courage to pose as an old woman (complete with the wrinkles and all. The make up chaps certainly deserve a round of applause). Tamanna, unfortunately, fell short of the mark. It is clear that she put in a gargantuan amount of effort. But perhaps, sometimes less is more. In her case, her expressions were too forced. The dark horse in the movie, the unsung hero was Ramya Krishna. She carried the role of queen with poise and aplomb.

Some scenes in the movie were clearly made for the masses (like the one wherein Prabhas held a huge statue on his own whereas elephants (!) struggled!). Such scenes should've been toned down, especially considering that the director is reputed to be a perfectionist.

All in all, it is a good watch and sets a great example for the (hopefully) changing trends in Indian, in particular Telugu, cinema.