MovieNotes: Bahubali 2 The Conclusion

Title: Bahubali 2: The Conclusion (IMDB)

*ing: Prabhas, Rana Dagubatti, Ramya Krishnan, Anushka Shetty, Sathyaraj

Director: SS Rajamouli

Language: Telugu (seen in Hindi)

Genre: Epic Fantasy

Preamble

Why did Katappa kill Bahubali? A question which has vexed everyone since the release of the first movie. And after a wait of nearly two years, we get the answer.

Basic Premise

Katappa continues his tale of Amarendra Bahubali’s life and ultimate demise and Devasena’s imprisonment. Mahendra Bahubali decides to take his revenge for his father’s killing and take back his rightful kingdom.

MovieNotes

The movie continues the grand scale and opulence of its predecessor. The VFX quality has also improved. However, the grandness doesn’t stand out as much second time around, probably because we have seen it all before.

If it is a battle for the crown (or a game of thrones, as is now said), there has to be plots and sub-plots mixed with kitchen politics, loyalties won and lost, and all this accompanied by bloated sense of ego – all of which make the movie a perfect pot-boiler. However, there are too many sudden appearances of characters from nowhere, which is a bit difficult to absorb at times.

Last time it was a rampaging bull, this time it is a rampaging elephant which has to be taken care off. Also we see newer innovations in the battle-field – multiple arrows fired at once, bulls with flaming horns, soldiers being catapulted into a fortress.

While Mahismati maybe fictional, there is a reference to Pataliputra. (me liked that)

Harry Potter has owls, Westeros has ravens, and Mahismati uses kites (cheel). Whatever happened to the good, old pigeon message delivery system?

Is Bahubali 3 on cards? The voice-over in the end-credits does keep the possibility open.

And finally to answer the question, which the nation wanted to know – “Katappa was following orders”. In the end a very anti-climatic and simple solution to the question which had vexed the nation and had generated thousands of memes over the last two years.

Rating: 9/10. An entertaining watch.

Previously on MovieNotes: The Fate of the Furious