Baahubali

In the ancient Kingdom of Mahishmati in India, Sivagami, the queen (Ramya Krishnan), emerges from a cave adjoining a big waterfall, carrying a baby. She kills the soldiers pursuing her and sacrifices herself to save the baby. Local villagers spot the queen carrying the baby while almost drowning in the river and rescue the infant. The queen drowns after pointing towards the mountain above the waterfall.  Sanga (Rohini) and  her husband name the infant Shiva and raise him as their own son.

They seal the cave fearing that someone may come to take away the child.Shiva (Prabhas) grows up to be a well-built young man aspiring to hike the mountain and makes many unsuccessful attempts at it. It is revealed that he possesses unnatural strength. He then finds a mask of a girl which falls from the waterfall. Driven to find out the identity of the girl, he climbs the mountain again and succeeds this time.

On top of the waterfall, Shiva discovers that the mask belongs to Avanthika (Tamannaah), a rebellious warrior whose group has indulged in a guerrilla warfare against king Bhallala Deva / Pallvalathevan (Rana Daggubati) of the Mahishmati Kingdom. The group intends to rescue their former queen Devasena (Anushka Shetty) who has been chained in the kingdom for the past 25 years. Avanthika is given the opportunity to rescue the queen.Avanthika falls in love with Shiva after she finds out that he has climbed the waterfall for her. Shiva pledges to help her in her mission and sneaks into Mahishmati to rescue Devasena.

Shiva rescues her and flees along with her but is chased down by the kings Royal slave Kattappa (Sathyaraj), known for his great warrior abilities. After Shiva beheads Bhadra (Adivi Sesh), Bhalla Devas son, Kattappa drops his weapons on realising that Shiva is Mahendra Baahubali, the son of late king Amarendra Baahubali.A flashback reveals Amarendra Bahubalis past. Amarendras mother died while giving him birth, while his father had died much before that. Sivagami takes charge of running the kingdom with Kattapas assistance until a new king is elected.

Amarendra Bahubali and Bhallala Deva are brought up together, trained in all areas including arts, science, disguise, politics and warfare, but both of them have different approaches towards kingship. Amarendra Baahubali is liberal to everyone but Bhallala Deva is violent and achieves his goals with any means possible.When a war is forced upon Mahishmati by the Kalakeyas, Sivagami promises that the new king will be the one who beheads the Kalakeya king and orders that the war resources be distributed equally between the two cousins. Bijjala Deva (Nassar), Bhalla Devas father, uses his cunningness to make sure Bhalladeva gets the maximum war fare. When it seems that Mahishmati would end up being defeated, Amarendra inspires his soldiers to fight to the death and they end up crushing the enemy.

Despite Bhalla Deva being the one to kill the Kalakeya king, Sivagami announces Amarendra Baahubali as the new emperor because of his nobility and leadership in the war.After the flashback, when asked about Amarendras current whereabouts, a tearful Katappa reveals that the King is dead, and that Katappa himself is the one responsible for his death.Lisa Tsering based on The Hollywood Reporter wrote, The story has been told many times before  a child is born destined for greatness and as a man vanquishes the forces of evil  but in the confident hands of accomplished South Indian director S.S. Rajamouli the tale gets potent new life in Baahubali: The Beginning.

Allan Hunter, writing for Screen Daily noted that The broad brushstrokes storytelling and the directors over-fondness for slow-motion sequences are among the films failings but this is still a rousing film, easily accessible epic. Theres rarely a dull moment in Baahubali: The Beginning, part one of a gung-ho, crowd-pleasing Telugu-language epic that has been shattering box-office records throughout India. Mike McCahill of The Guardian rated the film four stars out of five, praising the film, Rajamouli defers on the latter for now, but his skilful choreography of these elements shucks off any cynicism one might carry into Screen 1: wide-eyed and wondrous, his film could be a blockbuster reboot, or the first blockbuster ever made, a reinvigoration of archetypes that is always entertaining, and often thrilling, to behold. Suprateek Chatterjee of The Huffington Post wrote, However, all said and done, Baahubali: The Beginning is a remarkable achievement. What Rajamouli has pulled off here, despite its flaws, is nothing short of a miracle, especially when you take into account Indias notoriously risk-averse filmmaking environment and when the film ends on a tantalising cliffhanger (paving the way for Baahubali: The Conclusion, due to release next year), one cant help but applaud his singularly brave vision.

As the cliché goes, a journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step, but it doesnt really matter if that first step is shaky as long as it lands firmly and confidently. Deepanjana Pal of Firstpost wrote, This battle is Rajamoulis tour de force. Its elaborate, well-choreographed and has some breathtaking moments. Prabhas and Dagubatti are both in their elements as the warriors who approach warfare in two distinctive styles. The outcome of the battle is no surprise, but there are enough clever tactics and twists to keep the audience hooked.

The biggest surprise, however, lies in the films final shot, which gives you a glimpse into the sequel that will come out next year. And its good enough to make you wish 2016 was here already. Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV India rated the film with three stars out of five and stated, The spectacular universe that the film conjures up is filled with magic, but the larger-than-life characters that populate its extraordinary expanse do not belong to any known mythic landscape. To that extent, Baahubali, driven by the titular superhero who pulls off mind-boggling feats both in love and in war, throws up many a surprise that isnt altogether meaningless. Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express praised the film: Right from its opening frames, Baahubali holds out many promises: of adventure and romance, love and betrayal, valour and weakness.

And it delivers magnificently on each of them. This is full-tilt ,fully-assured filmmaking of a very high order. Baahubali is simply spectacular. IN her review for The Hindu, Sangeetha Devi Dundoo wrote, The war formations that form a chunk of the latter portions of the film are the best weve seen in Indian cinema so far. These portions are spectacular and show the technical finesse of the cinematographer (K.

K. Senthil Kumar) and the visual effects teams. The waterfall, the mystical forests and water bodies above the cliffs and the lead pair escaping an avalanche all add to the spectacle. Give into its magic, without drawing comparisons to Hollywood flicks. Sukanya Varma of Rediff gave the film four out of five stars, calling it mega, ingenious and envelope pushing!.

Critic Archita Kashyap based at Koimoi also gave the same ratings, Be it the war sequences, or sword fighting; or a visual spectacle, or pure entertainment it is worth a watch. Kudos to the dedication of S S Rajamouli and his leading men, Prabhas & Rana, for spending years putting this film together. Actually, in its imagination & Indianness, Baahubali might just be a whole new start. Rachit Gupta of Filmfare gave the film four stars (out of 5) and summarised, Baahubali is truly an epic experience. Had the story not been so jaded, this wouldve gone into the history books as an all-time classic.

But thats not the case. It has its set of storytelling flaws, but even those are overshadowed by Rajamoulis ideas and execution. This is definitely worthy of being Indias most expensive film. Its a definite movie watching experience. Suparna Sharma of Deccan Chronicle praised the second half of the film, writing, Rajamouli has reserved all the grander and grandstanding for later, after interval.

Thats when the film stands up and begins to strut like an epic. Suhani Singh of India Today pointed out that the film is best enjoyed keeping logic at bay. She added, SS Rajamouli and his team put up a fascinating wild, wild east adventure. It takes pluck to conceive a world like the one seen in Baahubali and to pull it off on a level which is on par with the international standards. The almost 45-minute long battle sequence at the end is not just one of the biggest climaxes, but also the action spectacle rarely seen in Indian cinema.

And if Rajamouli can present another one like that in part 2, then he is on course to register his name in cinemas history books. We cant wait to revisit Mahishmati kingdom. Critical reception penned by Shubha Shetty Saha for Mid Day rates the film with four stars out of film, exclaiming, While watching Baahubali, you might have to periodically pick up your jaw off the floor. Because this is not merely a movie, it is an unbelievably thrilling fantasy ride. The review extends praising the aspects, It is to the directors credit that every aspect of the film  action, mind-boggling set design and choreography  lives up to this epic film of gigantic scale.

The choreography in the song that has Shiva disrobing Avantika to get her in touch with her feminine side, is an absolute gem.