Baahubali 2 - The most epic conclusion

Baahubali the conclusion, directed by SS Rajamouli is the continuation of Baahubali the beginning which came out in 2015. The first part was a tremendous hit worldwide and the reason for its success was its originality. It stuck to the roots of Indian culture and tradition without trying to ape a hollywood blockbuster and showed us how cool Indian wars can be. Part two has done more of what we saw and loved in part one and its awesome.

The movie picks up where part one left us, with Bhallaladeva's son murdered in the rain by Mahendra Baahubali, Kattappa at the feet of Baahubali explaining to him why he killed Amarendra Baahubali, Mahendra's father. Immediately after the opening credits, for all of us who watched the first part a long time back and don't have a good memory, important incidents of part one are depicted in the form of statues and comic animations, a great way to start a sequel. The flashback sequence picks up after the defeat of the Kalakeya army.

Baahubali and Kattappa decide to explore the nearby lands away from Magizhmadhi for hunting down bad guys and incidentally we are introduced to Devasena (Anushka) who instantly makes Baahu fall in love with her by kicking some serious ass. These are some of the most humerous scenes in the movie and most of the jokes come from Kattappa. The relationship between Baahubali and Kattappa reminds me of Batman and Alfred, Kattappa always has Baahu's back and literally lives up to his nickname 'mama' by helping Baahubali get together with Anushka. Sathyaraj has proved to us that age is just a number and the veteran actor gives his absolute best be it kicking ass or comedy or matchmaking.

While we are having a lot of fun admiring and relishing the relationship between Amarendra and Kattappa, Bhallaladeva (Rana) and Bijjaladeva (Nasser) are busy trying to come up with a masterplan to wreck Baahubali and dethrone him. The first half of the movie is basically how they succeed in destroying Baahubali. Bijjaladeva is the brains behind the plan and a major part of it involves convincing Sivagami that Baahubali is evil and needs to be destroyed. Sivagami is basically the main decision maker of the affairs regarding Magizhmadhi.

Baahubali and Anushka get married later and Bhalladeva uses their marraige to weave a fake story which makes Baahu look like the bad guy. Baahu is dethroned, happily accepts his fate as long as it ensures the safety of pregnant Devasena. Baahubali is the epitome of an ideal man, he's like the perfect husband, perfect son and overall the perfect example of how a protagonist should be. Considering how close Kattappa and Baahubali are the last person on earth who would kill Amarendra Baahubali would be Kattappa but he still does the deed. That was probably the most emotional scene in the whole movie and fans finally get their biggest question answered, 'Why did Kattappa kill Baahubali'? There's no one particular answer for Kattappa's action, its best I stop it here before I end up spoiling it. Watch the movie and you'll get a beautiful answer for the question of the decade.

The final act of the movie is to find out if Mahendra, Amarendra's son can fulfil his mother Devasena's wish to burn Bhallaladeva alive. We get more than a few war sequences and they're all a treat to our eyes. The highlight is once again the action sequences which I have absolutely no words to describe and I can only watch them again and again and enjoy each time more than the previous time.

Talking about the individual performances, once again Prabhas manages to steal our hearts in being one of the best war heroes both as Amarendra and Mahendra Baahubali only this time, we see more of Amarendra Baahubali (Mahendra's dad). He was potrayed as a strong, brave, fearless warrior and his dedication and love and loyalty for Sivagami, Devasena and mainly Magizhmadhi is applaudable.

Rana who starred as Bhallaladeva doesn't really have much to say except near the end but he more than makes up for it by showing off his body which is absolutely ripped. Seriously, what the hell was his workout routine? The dude looked intimidating and furious and his intention is to do whatever it takes to be the king of Magizhmadhi.

Anuska Shetty as Devasena, well she cast a powerful spell on both Baahubali and me, it was such a pleasure seeing her on screen. Bravery, courage, beauty, she had everything and she looked so beautiful throughout the movie. I could see love in her eyes when she looked at Baahubali, a wife's love everytime she looked at Amarendra, a mother's affection when she saw Mahendra and fire when she looked at Bhallaladeva. Her patience and faith were rewarded when she was rescued by her son and the look she gave Bhallaladeva when was just carrying Bhalla's son's head was just so badass.

 I can talk about her in a whole new blog but I'm moving on to another equally fierce performance, Ramya Krishnan as Sivagami. She just had the looks of a mighty queen in her very eyes, the way she speaks, her royal walk and her wisdom. At some point of time I was reminded of Neelambari from Padayappa and her character exhibited the same level of awesomeness as Neelambari and there were a few scenes which reminded me of Padayappa.

Nasser as Bijjadeva was the brains behind the masterplan to break Baahubali. He's so good at his role that he makes you want to get into the screen and decapitate him. He's a veteran and he never disappoints, I enjoyed every single scene he was in. The best part is, he's a natural, it doesn't feel like he's trying too hard and that kind of awesomeness is hard to find.

 Coming to Kattappa, what can I say? There's no other character who's as loving, as caring, as fearless, as funny, as badass as him and his biggest sacrifice, killing Baahubali and the level of pain it took him to do it, Sathyaraj steals the show with an emotionally overwhelming performance. He's definitely my favourite character in this Rajamouli epic.

The fight scenes were choreographed brilliantly, beautiful scenery,  amazing huge statues, excellent robes, anything which depicted our culture looked beautiful. I wanted to highlight two scenes which I won't forget, one of them being Sivagami introducing Mahendra Baahubali to the crowd, very similar to what Rafiki did in pride rock with Simba in lion king. The second scene is the middle of a war where hundreds of bulls were taking out the enemies with their horns on fire. I think its a way of showing their support for jallikkattu, even if it doesn't this movie is worth watching for that one scene alone. Bulls, plus horns on fire equals awesome.

Kudos to Rajamouli for creating this visual spectacle, this movie is an example of the epicness of Indian wars, our culture, our tradition and Rajamouli has made us all so proud. Its a movie for all ages, there was an octogenerian in the crowd and her expression during the credits said it all. When someone says Indian movie, the rest of the world thinks its 'Bollywood', well think twice the next time, South India has some badass movies as well. I'm not going to compare it to the first part and say which is better, neither one is superior and neither is inferior, they're both two parts of one epic story.

Verdict: 9.9/10

P.S. Don't look for too much logic when it comes be it fight scenes or songs, remember this isn't sci-fi, its just a fantasy war movie. Watch it, watch it again, and then again, its going to be etched in my heart as the best Indian movie ever. Endhiran may be awesome but its not original and the reason I choose Baahubali the beginning and conclusion is because of its originality and how close it has managed to stay to our roots.

Lion - A fitting title for a brave child

Lion, directed by Garth Davis is a documentary based on true events that happened in the life of Saroo Brierly. Saroo Brierly is an Indian who ends up in Australia due to an unfortunate chain of events.

The movie starts off in Khandwa, his hometown where saroo and his elder brother Guddu spend their day by stealing coal from trains and exchange them for milk and money. Saroo also has a sister named Shekila and we get a glimpse of his mother. An unlucky incident separates Saroo from his family and he ends up in Kolkata in the process. We see all the disturbing incidents and experiences this 7 year old kid goes through and how smart he is to evade every turn of bad luck.

Finally, luck favors Saroo, as an Australian couple show interest in adopting him. After getting introduced to their characters we come to realise how good natured and kind they are. Nicole Kidman manages to steal the show yet again by showing so much love and affection she has for the boy, treating his burdens as her own, and making sure the child feels safe. For the first time, we see Saroo completely putting his faith on someone and trusting them completely.

At an instant, without any more nonsense just when we think that the movie might be dragging a bit, his life is fast forwarded by about 20 years and Dev Patel takes over as Saroo. Saroo is now a young lad and Dev nails the Australian accent, doing a bloody good job of portraying young Saroo. He then goes on to finally meet his future girlfriend, Rooney Mara who was his classmate in college with him. The love between these two is so beautiful and Lucy (Rooney Mara) is so supportive of him and his dreams. There's a part in the movie where they play Urvashi in the background, by AR Rahman which just made me go nuts and gave me goosebumps.

Saroo is at his friend's place where a certain food item suddenly takes him 20 back with his brother Guddu where he asks for the same item. He goes into a nervous breakdown and there's a growing urge in him to find his mother and his family. After years of struggling to find where he's from, Saroo finally has some luck in finding his hometown using the idea suggested by one of his friends.

Once again, we see a very emotion heavy scene featuring Nicole and Dev Patel, a scene which reminded me of Clark Kent and Martha Kent having a conversation of where he's from in man of steel. Dev Patel finally books his ticket to Kolkata back to his country, with a desperation to find his hometown.

With a few old memories in mind, a few buildings near his house and the place where he lost his family, Saroo connects the dots and finds his way back home, only to realise that his house has been demolished and altered. With the help of someone who speaks English, Saroo is finally reunited with his mother who was until that day, still waiting and still searching for her son and that's were the emotions go over the roof. This is finally where Priyanka Bose, who played Kamala (Saroo's mother) finally managed to show her talents. 

Throughout the movie, we are given a mind blowing performance by little Sunny Pawar who steals the show every single scene he's in. The makers of the movie took a huge risk, something these documentary films don't do so often, giving more than 30 minutes of screen time for his flashback and I would say it more than paid off. The love he showed towards his mother is so pure. I'm sure Sunny Pawar is going to have a huge role in all the upcoming Hollywood films in the coming years. Top marks for the director and cute little Sunny Pawar. There were times where he was better than Nicole Kidman herself. One more thing which might go unnoticed, is the beautiful,  heartwarming and sometimes haunting soundtrack this movie had.

The only complaint I have is why Hollywood is always trying to show the worst parts about India. They did it with slumdog millionaire and now they did it here. They show how unsafe the streets are and how tricky the people are. It would be nice if they showed what a beautiful country India is and how caring and loving some people are. To me, personally it has changed my attitude toward the homeless children and will definitely change my opinion before I judge another child coming to me trying to sell books or flowers in a signal. I hope it is an eye-opener for everyone who watches it. The evil those kids face everyday, and how easily they get tricked, it's just sad.

Definitely one of the best documentaries I've ever scene, a very emotional movie, and the highlight for me will be Sunny Pawar. Deserved all the Oscar nominations it got, would have been a bit more happy if Sunny Pawar also got nominated along with Dev Patel. If moonlight won an oscar and hacksaw ridge didn't, I don't see why Lion couldn't. 

Verdict: 8.5/10

P.S. At the end of the movie we see that Saroo has been mispronouncing his real name, Sheroo, hence the name of the movie.