Cast: Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Anushka, Ramya Krishna, Nasser, Subba Raju and others
Director: S.S. Rajamouli
Finally, the second part, Baahubali: The Conclusion, has hit the screens and the question that has kept everyone in suspense for two years — ‘Why did Kattappa kill Baahubali’ — has been answered. The first part created enough waves at the box-office and took Telugu cinema international, but the second part has got unprecedented attention and sales are expected to be massive.
The film picks up from where the first part ended, where Kattappa (Satya Raj) is revealing the flashback of Amarendra Baahubali. After he won the battle over Kalakeya, Rajam-ata Sivagami (Ramya Kris-hna) announced that Amarendra Baahubali (Prab-has) is the king of the Mahishmathi Empire. Before the oath-taking, Siva-gami asked Amarendra Baahubali to tour the country to know about the people’s problems.
Amarendra Baahubali and Kattappa go on a tour like ordinary people and reach Kuntala’s kingdom and see the warrior princess Devasena (Anushka). Baahubali loses his heart to Devasena but doesn't reveal his identity. In the meantime, Bhallala Deva (Rana Daggubati) and his father Bijjala (Nasser) make plans to get the King’s chair. There are some dramatic events in the Kuntala and Mahis-hmathi kingdoms. Devasena marries Amarendra, but Sivagami orders the couple to leave the palace and makes Bahhala Deva the king. Though Bhallala is crowned King, he is not satisfied as he wants to see the end of Amarendra.
He and his father feed wrong information to Sivagami about Amarendra. Why the Rajamatha asks Amarendra to leave, what prompts Kattappa to kill Amarendra Baahubali, and how Amarendra’s son Sivudu takes revenge on Bhallala is what the rest of the film is about.
Director Rajamouli made everyone wait for the answers to the many questi-ons asked in the first part. Interestingly, he mainta-ins the tempo in the second part till the second half. Compared to the first part, the director added more drama and emotional scenes in this concluding film.
As in the first part, Rajamouli depends on graphics; the entire film is dominated by visual grap-hics. In some scenes you can clearly identify the graphics and such scenes are not believable.
Rajamouli’s strong point is his vision and the narration of the story. Though it's a known and predictable story, the director projects it in a strong manner and some of the scenes give you goose bumps. Especially the scenes between Devasena and Rajamatha which are really exciting, and the scene where Amarendra Baahubali questions the court’s decision and beheads the person who heads the military.
When it comes to the climax, Rajamouli makes the same mistake as many Telugu filmmakers. The ending is clichéd and routine, largely due to the overuse of graphics.
Rajamouli concentrates on graphics in the action scenes, too, rather than on the drama or the romance and entertainment. It’s not wrong to use graphics, but you have to add emotional content and a good story.
When it comes to performances, Prabhas is excellent as Amarendra Baahubali; he actually looks like a Royal King. He lived the part particularly in the second part.
Ramya Krishna carries the same punch from the first part. She proves again that she is best suited to play the role of Sivagami.
Anushka as Devasena plays her part well and looks beautiful. Rana Daggubati shows his evil side in this part, in another memorable role. Nasser is definitely a highlight of the film. He is superb as he schemes his wicked ideas, and Satya Raj as Kattappa too is good. Subba Raju's comedy is not up to the mark, though he improves as the film progresses. Tamannah is seen in the climax for a few seconds.
Technically, the film is brilliant with Senthil Kumar's photography being the strong soul of the film. The grandeur of the fort and some of the action scenes are shot very well.
The other highlight is music director M.M. Keeravani, who has composed a good background score. He always gives his best to Rajamouli's films; may be the brothers understand each other well. The dialogues are not memorable as the film relies on visual grandeur.
'Baahubali: The Conclusion is a milestone in Telugu cinema for its good technical values. The story is predictable but Rajamouli spices it up with grand visual effects. The lengthy action scenes and the climax may be a mite boring, but watch the film at least once for the grand scale of operations and, of course, the answer to ‘Why did Kattappa kill Baahubali’.
