The Exordium
Indian cinema has perfectly showcased the vast reach of our
cultural diversity, our beautiful landscape, languages, rich heritage and
traditional values much to the envy of the global audience and to the pride of
national patrons.
The Sovereignty
"Bahubali 2: The Conclusion" is smashing at the
Indian box office since its release and has become a trendsetter in terms of its
scale and grandeur. The benchmarks make it clear that change is coming; and it
is here to stay. It’s a giant step towards growing our own world of fantasies. Modi
sarkar hails this Prabhas-Anushka Shetty starrer as a "shining
example" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet project "Make In India".
The Triumph
The tremendous critical and commercial success attained by
‘Bahubali’ has once again shifted the spotlight onto SS Rajamouli’s
unparalleled abilities as a storyteller. Rajamouli is quite an expert when it
comes to making films that are larger than life yet believable. The 43-year-old
filmmaker is synonymous with intelligent yet highly entertaining big screen
outings. Here is a look at why Rajamouli is truly a force to be reckoned with.
The Genesis
Rajamouli dreamt of this mega film in 2011 and gave it six
years of his life. The makers of Baahubali deserve nothing less than a salute
for peeping into the future and pumping in 430 crores into this colossal
project. Rajamouli has always known that the language of cinema is universal
and has taken the first step towards a paradigm shift to create cinema that has
universal appeal across age groups and languages.
The Forbearance
His single-minded dedication and love for cinema inspired the
main lead Prabhas so much so that he gave bulk dates to SS Rajamouli’s project.
Prabhas reportedly shot for a total of 613 days for the two parts, spanning a
period of almost four years, shooting no other film in the meantime; and he
never misses out on a chance to talk about how such belief in a project can
only come from the conviction of the director. Not for once did the actor
associated with the film think about their career if this film failed at the
box office. Nor did they measure the revenues lost or years spent telling just
one story.
The Determination
For four years, Prabhas, who plays the title role of
Baahubali, lived and travelled like Bahubali, was restricted from cutting his
hair and followed a strict diet and a regimen
that included rigorous training sessions punctuated with broken bones and a
surgery. From committing himself for four years to delaying his wedding,
Prabhas willingly did it all for the magnum opus. Being blind in one eye has
not held Rana Daggubati back in charging forward to claim international stardom
with the 'Baahubali' franchise.
The Dominion
SS Rajamouli is known for involving his family into his
projects. It is a given that if Rajamouli directs a movie, then Vijayendra
Prasad will write the story, MM Keeravani, his cousin will score the music and
Rama Rajamouli, his wife will take care of costumes.
The Dynasty
Along with the trio, Keeravani's father Shivashakti Dutta
worked as lyricist and his younger brother Rama Krishna too wrote a song.
Keeravani's wife, Valli took care of the production as the line producer.
Kalyani Koduri, the cousin of Rajamouli and younger brother of MM Keeravani,
worked as the sound recordist for the movie.
The Tutelage
SS Rajamouli's son, Karthikeya worked as second unit director
and in many other positions too for the movie. Keeravani's son Kaalabhairava
sang two songs in the movie and other son, Sri Simha worked as music assistant.
Ramakrishna's son Rajabali worked as VFX assistant and Kalyani Koduri's son
Mayur gave his voice for a bit. Also, Rajamouli's daughter Mayuka, Keeravani's
daughter Kumudvathi worked as actors in Saahore Bahubali song.
The Ecstatic Brigade
With so many from the same family working for the film, we
can say Bahubali is a family package. Even two sons of cinematographer KK
Senthil Kumar have also worked as actors in the movie for a shot in the song
Saahore Bahubali! It is amazing to see each one of them owning one person's
dream as their own and working for him it.
The
Substratum
The pre-production work, which took more than a year,
witnessed the making of a whole new language original weapon design (typically
Rajamouli's style) and a powerful central role for women smartly in sync with
contemporary times. The team behind Baahubali spent over a year in
pre-production for the film; but for Rajamouli, the journey probably began much
earlier. For him content is the King, So he started working on the script
during the shoot of Magadheera which was also on the lines of reincarnation.
The Conviction
The Passion,
vision and strong conviction of Rajamouli is evident on screens every time. Bahubali
reflects his dedication. I would say that Rajamouli is the game changer in
terms of film making in India. He has broken the ceiling and has proved that Indian
film makers can think big and make movies for global audience. His faith in his
storytelling abilities
The Execution
There might be many stories on kings and kingdoms,
Rajamouli’s story is an offshoot of his imagination. SS Rajamouli has poured
out his heart in each and every scene. The movie is cherished his movie for
visuals and grandeur. He ensures that Baahubali 2 would be remembered not only for
its visual treat but also as an embodiment of why you watch movies. The film
gives you a ticket to a different world as the director instills a sense of
wonder and awe in you with his imagination. There are multiple reasons why this
film is making history and breaking records. The mood, the hype and
imagination, proper publicity could be the key.
The Enchantment
One can’t take your eyes off Prabhas and Rana Daggubati. Both
actors steal the show with their screen presence. They haven’t wasted a single
second of their limited time on screen. We watch them greedily, trying to
capture their well-toned bodies in your mind which stays with us for a while. The
grandeur action scenes has been choreographed to perfection and is expected to
give goose bumps! The cinematography and sound effects are mind blowing while the
sound effects which has been recorded in Dolby Atmos Format that gives a three
dimensional sound effect which is of par excellence. Not all graphics look
natural but in Bahubali, it did; one would find it difficult to say which is
real and which isn’t.
The Dynamism
Rajamouli has
a flawless box office record; the filmmaker has been a part of the telugu film
fraternity for nearly 16 years. During this period, he has wielded the
microphone for 12 films and all his movies have done well at the box office! Moreover,
most of his films have liked by critics as well. Inspite of all the accolades, Rajamouli
is a very humble person, even with the success of Makkhi and Bahubali-The
Beginning, he continues to be a down to earth person even without an air of
arrogance and his team respects him for that.
The Extravagance
One of the main reasons for the film's success is Rajamouli.
People have belief in him and they are aware that, no matter what if you visit
the theatre that screens his story, they will not come out disappointed. He had
convinced an entire Indian population that a fly is capable of taking revenge
on a villain. He earned that trust through the conviction and confidence with
which he narrated the story. In Bahubali, Rajamouli has extrapolated his dream
visually and arrested the viewers in the first few scenes itself.
The Evaluation
It is not
easy for all elements to fall in place for a cinema and it did here, be it
sets, locations or cinematography. Kudos to the producers for being so
confident. Rajamouli has made a beautiful film with stars and arresting visuals
and a lovely narration for a common man. The theatre owners everywhere are
saying that the crowd thronged to see the film as if it was a wedding,
irrespective of the age group. When you show something as fabulous as this,
people will respect you.
