Initially when I saw the actor Prabhas my first impression was he did not fit the role; I don’t know why, the movie had just started and there was no real reason for me to think that way. May be because I knew this movie had so much investment in it and I thought a more popular actor would have been better.

Then the fact hit me, As a malayali, not knowing Prabhas (an actor in telugu movies) does not mean he is not fit for the role. That was such a bad prejudice I had. I hated the thought that for me most popular and fit meant an actor I knew. But I guess the fact that I had not seen a Prabhas movie before added a few more folds to the enjoyment.

If it was any other actor that I had watched a film of before I would have seen the actor and not the character. But in this case, I only saw Baahubali and Siva and I should say Prabhas was so apt for that role and the screen presence he had is beyond words.

Can someone else do this role better? I don’t know may be may be not…. but for me Baahubali was extremely convincing in Prabhas as he had that larger than life look on screen which is not there for all actors.

The movie is a visual splendor, it gave me the effect of reading an Amar Chitra Katha. Not just reading it but feeling it. As a kid when I used to read it, each of those images of the characters would have taken me to a new world where those images would come to life. I think the interesting thing of this movie is you can experience the movie as you watch.

It is not that we have not seen such Visual treats in hollywood, but seeing a movie on a story in the Indian setting is always a treat. Often when I watch many epic movies in Chinese I have wondered…. In india we have so many stories that can be transformed to a movie in an irresistible visual magnificence and yet when I look back the only things that come to my mind are the Mahabharata and Ramayana that came on TV when we were kids. They were fun to watch as a kid, but not now, even those times we were fed up with half the serial spent on arrows flying both ends.

There is so much historical tales as well as fantasies that can be brought to life on the screen and I guess it is always the magnitude of such projects that probably scare people and also I guess the steep cost of acquiring the technology expertise. But movies like Hero or Red Cliff should happen in india as well and this should be start. Looking forward for the next part.

One reason I find many such movies fail to attract a larger world audience is because the stories are so complex with so many characters and any non Indian will just be lost in it. But with Baahubali, it does keep even a non Indian on course I guess, though a non Indian can comment better on that….

Categories: Movies, Reviews

Tags: Baahubali review