Tag Archives: V. Vijayendra Prasad

Re-presenting The Epic Characters in the Film Franchise, Baahubali

Rajamouli’s two-part epic film – Baahubali broke many-a-record in Indian film industry. So much is written and said about the film – its cast, storyline, special visual effects, settings, dialogue, music, costumes, stunts, and more than all about the amount spent on the movie and the records that they broke in box-office collections. The use of new technologies has no doubt enhanced the quality and the visual impact of the film. But what appears to have touched the hearts of the viewers the most is the art of narrating the story.  Millions of viewers queued up in the theatres to find satisfactory answer to the one question that agitated their minds since the release of the first part of Baahubali two years back. It is enough to view the film once to get the answer for the question, “Why did Kattappa kill Baahubali?”. More than the answer to the question, the film attracted repeat audience and sustained the viewership mostly because of the emotions that the lead characters in the film could arouse. Continue reading “Re-presenting The Epic Characters in the Film Franchise, Baahubali”

Politics,Caste & Prejudice in Baahubali and Bajrangi Bhaijaan

Bahubaali and Bajrangi Bhaijaan are two tent pole Indian films which have been doing well. Both the films have received critical as well as commercial acclaim. My attempt here would be to put these 2 films into current political context and see if both films succeed in making a social commentary on the current nature of our Nation.Continue reading “Politics,Caste & Prejudice in Baahubali and Bajrangi Bhaijaan”

Bajrangi Bhaijaan Movie Review: Salman Doesn’t Play Himself and It Works

Bajrangi BhaijaanSalman Khan is Rambo meets Rajinikanth with a sprinkle of Robin Hood for Bollywood loving populace. The damned shirt that he wears, rips itself off his chiseled body, Munnis swoon over his dance moves, leading ladies blush every time he cracks a not-so-funny joke and most importantly the bad men remember their grannies by a mere mention of our great Indian messiah of the masses. So, it is almost unthinkable to imagine the same irrepressible Salman Khan as a simpleton who is so earnest, sweet and well-behaved that you may consider pinching yourself. Kabir Khan’s Bajrangi Bhaijaan takes a great gamble by projecting Salman as not himself but as somebody that he can perhaps never be (in real life) – and boy, the gamble pays, and pays well!Continue reading “Bajrangi Bhaijaan Movie Review: Salman Doesn’t Play Himself and It Works”

Baahubali (The Beginning): A Quick Review

Baahubali Poster 2There has been a lot of hype about Baahubali. Claimed to be for Rs.250 Cr (for 2 parts) and taken more than 3 years to make, KJo’s foray in to South Indian film, Rajamouli’s magnum opus after Eega, even the diet of the hunks Prabhas and Rana are in public domain.Continue reading “Baahubali (The Beginning): A Quick Review”

Baahubali (The Beginning) Movie Review: A Grand Visual Spectacle That Makes You Ask for More

In a career spanning 14 years, with 9 consecutive hits in his belt, S.S.Rajamouli occupies an envious position today, not just in Telugu Cinema but in Indian Cinema itself. Even in his earlier films like Student No.1, Simhadri, Sye etc his passion for excellence and the desire to try something interesting was visible. And with films like Magadheera and Eega he has also demonstrated that he can comfortably handle films set on a large canvas and/or think out of the box. Today when we think of any lavishly mounted film we usually would tend to think of S.S.Rajamouli and Shankar, both being filmmakers bearing quite a lot of similarity. While both of them have shown that they are adept in handling VFX in their films, and with Shankar’s track record at the box office also being impressive, there isn’t much to differentiate between them. But one point where Rajamouli clearly scores over Shankar is that no single film of the former bears any similarity with his other works. Shankar is known for his fondness for films featuring a strong vigilante, being a recurring theme in many of his films. But that is something Rajamouli has always steered clear of.Continue reading “Baahubali (The Beginning) Movie Review: A Grand Visual Spectacle That Makes You Ask for More”