The first thing that came to mind was when Rajamouli did create such characters with the scale to back a simple straight forward story, did he ever think of a trilogy. I did, I’ll tell you why, a little later. Meanwhile here it is, the epic conclusion to the staggering effort(by Indian standards) of S.S Rajamouli.
The story is meant to answer all the questions to Bahubali 1’s cliffhanger. For the most part, it ties in everything well enough. We know the end but are glued to the screen for the journey generously sprinkled with fantasy, action, conspiracies, betrayal, retribution and finally redemption.
Obviously won’t spoil the story here. But I did wonder if there was a trilogy in here. It could have been Baahubali 2: The build up and Baahubali 3: The conclusion. Because there is so much story in the last one hour that the crew just wanted to end it. It feels rushed towards the end. Clearly, like the first part, the flashback portions are the best bits of the film. Amarendra Baahubali trumps Mahendra Baahubali for the simple reason that his portions are more assured and sure footed. Personally, I would have liked to see the journey of Mahendra Baahubali follow the footsteps of his father as another movie.
As the titular character, Prabhas is sincere and has a commanding screen presence. Watch him in the much anticipated death scene, you can’t take your eyes off him every time he’s up there. Rana surprisingly despite his built isn’t menacing enough in this installment. Anushka holds her own and is very effective as the reason for the conflict.
Like in the first part, its the senior members of the cast, Sathyaraj and Ramyakrishnan who walk away with the honors. As Raja Matha Sivagami, Ramyakrishnan is in top form using her voice and eyes. Sathyaraj as Kattappa is brilliant in both the emotional scenes and the comical interludes. Nassar does well, as usual.
Technically, this one does push the envelope and for the most part does supersede part 1. But its in the rushed climax that the quality of CG drops. And that too me is the films glaring flaw.
Nonetheless, the massive effort towards set design, CG, action choreography, music and costumes must be applauded. They all work towards enhancing the experience.
Overall, an event movie which satisfied me to a great extent. Baahubali, the homegrown blockbuster, will leave you wanting more. A part 3 Mr. Rajamouli? Probably the team is exhausted.