I read somewhere that the Baahubali (Bb) films will be hard to forget anytime soon. This is true for a number of reasons, both good and bad. One of the better reasons, in my opinion, is that the film’s director S.S. Rajamouli has got the attention of the “Non-South” through sheer force of will and some interesting creative choices. As advertising types like to say, Rajamouli has us by the eyeballs. Love them or hate them, the films tell a yarn, and do not apologize for how they tell it. And of course, while the rest of us have just gotten acquainted with the Telugu folklore genre thanks to its new, slick avatar, Rajamouli and his producers have laughed their way to the bank and back. It’s a great coup. Rajamouli and crew have been more than polite in thanking Dharma Productions for the worldwide reach of Bb, but they need thank nobody but themselves for the product. If you don’t see yourself as a lover (or promoter) of kitsch, you can still be moved by Bb to a point where you begin to question your aesthetic presuppositions. That in my view is a bigger coup.Continue reading “Love and Hate in Baahubali”
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