BAHUBALI 2
BAHUBALI 2
Baahubali 2: The Conclusion
Baahubali 2: The Conclusion is an Indian epic fantasy action film directed by S. S. Rajamouli and written by his father K. V. Vijayendra Prasad. It was produced by Shobu Yarlagadda and Prasad Devineni under the banner Arka Media Works. Released on 28 April 2017, the film stars Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Anushka Shetty and Tamannaah while Ramya Krishnan, Sathyaraj and Nassar appear in prominent roles. second cinematic part in the Baahubali franchise, it is the follow-up to Baahubali: The Beginning, serving as both a sequel and a prequel.[5] The film is set in medieval Indiaand follows the sibling rivalry between Amarendra Baahubali and Bhallaladeva; the latter conspires against the former and has him killed by Kattappa. Years later, Amarendra's son returns to avenge his death. The Conclusion was made simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil and later dubbed into Hindi, Malayalam, Japanese, Russian and Chinese.
Made on an estimated budget of ₹2.5 billion, the production was launched on 17 December 2015 at Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad. The cinematography was done by K. K. Senthil Kumar, and was edited by Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao. Production design was done by Sabu Cyril, while the action sequences were choreographed by Peter Hein. The visual effects were designed by R. C. Kamalakannan, with assistance from Adel Adili and Pete Draper. The soundtrack and background music was composed by M. M. Keeravani. Released in conventional 2D and IMAX formats, The Conclusionwas the first Telugu film to also release in 4K High Definition format.
Grossing ₹1,796.56 crore worldwide, The Conclusion surpassed PK (2014) to briefly become the highest grossing Indian film of all time, collecting approximately ₹8 billion worldwide within just six days of its release. It became the first ever Indian film to gross over ₹10 billion, doing so in just ten days. Within India, it set many films records, becoming the highest-grossing film in Hindi, as well as in its original Telugu and Tamil languages. It stands as the highest grossing film in India, the second highest-grossing Indian film worldwide and the 39th highest-grossing film of 2017. The film sold an estimated 105 million tickets during its box office run, the highest recorded footfall for any film in India.
The Conclusion released to positive reviews from critics. It was also praised by the actors of the film industry alike. The film has garnered the Telstra People's Choice Award at the 2017 Indian Film Festival of Melbourne. It won three National Film Awards: Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, Best Special Effects and Best Stunt Choreographer. The Conclusion was premiered at the British Film Institute, and was the inaugural feature film at the 39th Moscow International Film Festival. It is showcased in the "Indian Panorama" section of the 48th International Film Festival of India.
Plot
Kattappa continues to narrate how he ended up killing Amarendra Baahubali.
After vanquishing the Kalakeyas, Amarendra Baahubali is declared as the future king of Mahishmati and Bhallaladeva its commander-in-chief. The Rajamatha Sivagami orders Amarendra to tour the kingdom and its neighbourhood, along with Kattappa. During the tour, Amarendra witnesses an attack by Devasena, the princess of Kuntala, a kingdom neighbouring Mahishmati. Falling in love with her, he approaches her after the fight, posing as a simpleton, and is accepted into the royal palace for a job.
Bhallaladeva receives a message of Amarendra's act and upon viewing Devasena's portrait, lusts for her. He asks Sivagami for Devasena's hand in marriage. The Rajamata, who was unaware of Amarendra's feelings for Devasena, assures Bhallaladeva and sends an emissary to Kuntala, who delivers the marriage proposal in a patronising way. An insulted Devasena rejects the proposal with a scathing reply. Enraged hearing her response, Sivagami sends an order to Amarendra that Devasena be brought to Mahishmati as a captive.
Meanwhile, Kuntala is attacked by Pindaris, a dacoit-like army. Amarendra, with the help of Kattappa Devasena's maternal cousin, Kumara Varma, is able to nullify the attack and save Kuntala. Upon being questioned, Amarendra reveals his true identity. He receives a bird post from Mahishmati, ordering him to take Devasena as captive. He promises Devasena that he will protect her honour and convinces her to come with him to Mahishmati as his future bride.
Upon reaching Mahishmati, the misunderstanding is brought to light and when an ultimatum is delivered to Amarendra that he must either choose the throne or Devasena, he chooses the latter. Bhallaladeva is crowned king and Amarendra is made the new commander-in-chief. During Devasena's baby shower, Bhallaladeva rids Amarendra of his duties as a "gift". Devasena speaks out against Sivagami's inaction and taunts Bhallaladeva. Due to further clashes, Amarendra and Devasena are banished from the royal palace, living happily among the people.
Bijjaladeva convinces Kumara Varma that Bhallaladeva is after Amarendra's life and he must kill the king to safeguard his brother-in-law. Kumara Varma enters the palace in the stealth of the night, only to be discovered by Bhallaladeva and be killed, but not before revealing their plot to convince Sivagami to kill Amarendra. Sivagami, convinced that Bhallaladeva's life is under threat but that open hostility would result in civil war, orders Kattappa to assassinate Amarendra. Kattappa, bound by his word to serve the Queen, lures Amarendra by feigning he is in trouble, and then stabs him in the back and kills him.
After Amarendra's death, Kattappa soon learns of Bhallaladeva's treachery and informs Sivagami, who reveals to the panicked hordes outside her palace that Amarendra is dead and that the baby Mahendra Baahubali would ascend the throne. As Bhallaladeva and his men are about to seize the queen, she flees with the new King but falls into a river after being hit by an arrow shot by Bhallaladeva. As Bhallaladeva holds Devasena prisoner for the next 25 years and destroys Kuntala, Mahendra grows up and leads the rebel group that has indulged in guerrilla warfare against King Bhallaladeva.
After listening to the whole story, Mahendra Baahubali (alias Sivudu) decides to avenge his father's death by raising his own army with the help of Kattappa and returns to Mahishmati along with Avantika and the people of the city. After an ensuing battle, Bhallaladeva is defeated by Mahendra and burnt alive on a pyre prepared by Devasena. Ending the cruel regime of Bhallaladeva, Mahendra becomes the new King with Avantika as his queen, bringing peace and harmony to Mahishmati.
Cast Intrn
The following is the credited cast:[6]
Cast
- Prabhas as Amarendra Baahubali and Sivudu/Mahendra Baahubali
- Rana Daggubati as Bhallaladeva, Main Antagonist
- Anushka Shetty as Devasena,
- Tamannaah as Avanthika
- Ramya Krishnan as Sivagami
- Nassar as Bijjaladeva
- Sathyaraj as Kattappa
- Subbaraju as Kumara Varma
Production
Baahubali: The Conclusion was produced by Tollywood,[7] the center of Telugu language films in India based out of Hyderabad, however it was filmed in both Telugu and Tamil languages simultaneously. The film series is touted to be the most expensive in India till date. The screen writer, K. V. Vijayendra Prasad who wrote stories for most of Rajamouli's films once again penned the story for Baahubali. The series was produced by Shobu Yarlagadda and Prasad Devineni.[8] R.C.Kamalakannan was chosen as visual effects supervisor and Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao was the editor. PM Satheesh was the sound designer and stunt sequences were coordinated by King Solomon, Lee Whittaker, and Kecha. The film's costume designers are Rama Rajamouli and Prasanth Tripuraneni. The line producer was M.M Srivalli. The film shooting started on 17 December 2015[9] at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad with Prabhas and Ramya Krishnan. The film featuring Telugu actors Prabhas and Rana Daggubati in the lead roles became the biggest ever movie in India in terms of scale of production and making as of 2017.[10] The film is also known by the abbreviation BB2.[11][12][13] Sabu Cyril was the production designer[14] and Peter Hein was the choreographer.[15] R. C. Kamalakannan was the VFX supervisor[16] and was assisted by Pete Draper and Adel Adili, co-founder of Makuta VFX.[17]
Casting
Prabhas was cast as main lead of the film. Anushka Shetty was cast as the heroine of the film as she was also a part of Mirchi (2013).[18] She coincidentally became the first heroine Rajamouli repeated in his films and thus made her schedules full for 2013 and 2014.[19] Rana Daggubati was recruited as the antagonist of the film and coincidentally he was also a part of Rudhramadevi.[20] Sathyaraj signed the film.[21]
In April 2013, Adivi Sesh was cast for a crucial role in the film as Rajamouli was impressed by his work in the Panjaa (2011).[22] Actress Ramya Krishnan was chosen to play the crucial role in the film as Rajamatha in August 2013.[23] Actor Nassar was selected to play a supporting role.[23] Charandeep was selected to play the brother of the film's chief villain.[24] On 20 December 2013 a press release stated that Tamannaah will be second heroine of the film which marks her first collaboration with Rajamouli and second collaboration with Prabhas.[25] Meka Ramakrishna was picked for the head of the Kuntala guerillas.
Characters and looks
Rana Daggubati was said to be playing the role of Prabhas' brother and he too underwent a lot of physical transformation satisfying the role he was assigned to play in the film.[20] He also underwent training in Martial arts under the supervision of a Vietnamese trainer, Tuan.[26] Sathyaraj has a Tonsured look for his role in the film.[27]Sudeep said that he would play the role of a weapons trader Aslam Khan in this film.[28] In the end of October 2013, Rana appeared at a fashion show with a beefed up body which, according to him, was a part of his look in the film.[29] In mid-May 2014, reports emerged that Anushka would play a pregnant woman for a few sequences in the second part of the film.[30]
At the same time, Prabhas posted on his Facebook page that he underwent a minor shoulder surgery and would join the film's sets in a span of a month.[31] On 1 June 2014, Prabhas and Rana's trainer Lakshman Reddy, said that Prabhas started his training 8 months before the commencement of shooting and after two years, both of them weighed nearly 100 kilos each. He also added that Prabhas has two attires with a heavy, bulky body for Baahubali's role and a lean physique for the second role.[32] For his look, Prabhas met WWE superstars like The Undertaker in February 2014 and interacted with them about their daily regimen and workouts.[33]
Prabhas had equipment costing ₹15 million shipped to his home, where he built a personal gym. His breakfast included 40 half-boiled egg whites blended and added with protein powder.[33] In mid-June 2014, regarding her role in the film, Tamannaah said that she would be playing the role of a warrior princess named Avanthika and her appearance in the film is completely different when compared to her past films.[34][35] Before joining the film's shoot, Tamannaah did costume trials for the film which she confirmed in her micro-blogging page stating "I am very excited to get on to the set of Baahubali. I did some dress trials today and my look in this movie will be totally new. I have never been seen in such sort of a look till now. It will be a new role for me."[36] Rajamouli called Tamannaah and her characterisation as a "value addition" to the movie.[37] She stated that she plays Avanthika, and had a special training and diet regime.[38] The film introduced a new language called Kilikili.[39]
Piracy
On 22 November 2016, a 2-minute war sequence from the film was leaked and posted on Facebook and Twitter.[40] The following day, the police arrested a video editor for stealing and uploading the scenes.[41][40] The Deccan Chronicle, noticing the lack of punishment, felt the leak was a publicity stunt.[42] Following this, a 9-minute war sequence supposedly from the climax was leaked. The video lacked VFX.[40]
Themes
In March 2017, Rajamouli said in an interview that "Why Kattappa killed Baahubali" is the theme of the film.[43] The tagline "The boy he raised, the man he killed" was billed in a poster featuring Kattappa.[44] Rajamouli had stated that the Mahabharata was a source of inspiration for the film.[45] According to K.K. Senthil Kumar, the colour palette used was based on the "mood and feel."[46] He contrasts different tones used within the film: warm colours for Mahishmati, cool colours for Kuntala, desaturated colours for the frame in which Baahubali is expelled.[46]
Kanniks Kannikeswaran writes the characters resemble those "from Chandamama issues from the 1960s and 70s" and feels that the "plots and subplots that bear distinct similarities to themes from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata." He calls Amarendra the "perfect Rama," while calling Bhallaladeva "Duryodana incarnate, an atatayi." Bijjaladeva is compared to Shakuni, while the death of Bhadrudu is compared to Jayadratha's death in the Mahabharata. Kannikeswaran also feels that the film has visual parallels with The Lion King, while also noting the similarities with Mulan. Writing about the similarities with the latter, he states, "Mulan pins a villain to a roof where he is reduced to ashes right in the midst of a firework display. The evil Bhallala is pinned with a sword to the ‘chita’ pyre that consumes him in the final frames of the film." He calls the film "Shivocentric," noting the appearance of a Shivatandava stotra and that Shiva is the tutelage deity of Mahishmati. The main character is healed by Shiva in the end of the film, while noting Ganesha also makes an appearance in a fire ritual.[47]
According to Chandan Gowda, a professor at the Azim Premji University, "the social order [in the film] appears to be a varna order: Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas are named with the Shudras staying an unnamed presence," also noting that "Muslims are also part of the Mahishmati kingdom."[45] Mahesh Kathi felt that the modules and imagery were borrowed from Indian epics like Mahabharata and called Prabhas' character "a mix of the Pandavas put together,"[48] while Gowda writes that the influence is "at best rough," stating that the film cannot match the "moral depth or complexity" of Mahabharata.[45] He further contrasts the themes of both, writing, "the heroes have failings and the villains redeeming virtues, making us morally ambivalent towards them both, Baahubali goes for black and white: its heroes are wholly good and the villains pure evil."[45]According to Gowda, the palace scenes resemble those in Ben Hur (1959) and Troy (2004) while the fight sequences are similar to the Chinese films Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000).[45]
Gaurav Kumar Jha of Swarajya expressed the view that the film is "the embodiment of Bharatiya culture and values."[49]According to Jha, the message "constitutionalism bereft of dharma shall only lead to ruin and decay of a nation, even if it be... the most powerful empire that was made of gold and glitters" is present, further adding that "power acquired through nefarious adharmic means is impermanent while dharma is eternal."[49] Jha compares the love between Amarendra and Devasena to that of the Abhijñānaśākuntalam of Kalidasa in terms of "depth, gravity and believability."[49]
Critics noticed similarities between The Conclusion and The Lion King, an adaptation of William Shakespeare's Hamlet (1599–1602).[50] This similarity was also felt by fans, who created memes of the comparison.[51] The Indian Express makes a comparison, stating that both films are a tale of two brothers, where inhabitants suffer under a cruel ruler, who is the brother of a kind ruler. The son of the kind ruler grows in remote lands, unaware of his lineage, guided to his home by his love interest. The spouse of the kind ruler is treated badly by the cruel ruler. The son also has an advisor, who helps him realize his identity.[52] They further note that the kind ruler and his son look similar in both films.[52] Firstpost notes that both Bhallaladeva and Scar share a scar on one eye, and both Simba and Mahendra are introduced similarly into the world.[53]
Music
Rajamouli's cousin M. M. Keeravani composed the music and background for the film. The Conclusion's Telugu soundtrack was released on 26 March 2017 at the pre-release event of the film at YMCA grounds.[54] The album of the film's Hindi version was released on 5 April 2017,[55][56] while the Tamil version was released on 9 April.[57][58][59] The Malayalam version was released on 24 April 2017.[60]
Release
Initially scheduled for release in Summer 2016, the release date of The Conclusion was postponed to November 2016 due to preparations for the international release of The Beginning in various locations.[61] This was further pushed to 28 April 2017.[62] At first, the joint budget of both The Beginning and The Conclusion was speculated to be around ₹2.5 billion.[63] This was later confirmed by Rajamouli in 2015.[64] However, the joint budget of the series was increased to ₹4.3 billion, of which ₹1.8 billion was the budget for The Beginning and ₹2.5 billion for The Conclusion.[65][4] The climax of The Conclusion alone cost 300 million, almost double the amount of The Beginning's climax.[66]
Screenings and statistics
An initial limited release of The Conclusion took place in most Gulf countries, including the UAE, on 27 April 2017.[67] In India, the film was released on 28 April.[68] The film was screened at the British Film Institute.[69] It was also premiered at the 39th Moscow International Film Festival.[70][71] The film was also showcased at the 49th International Film Festival of India in the "Indian Panorama" section.[72] According to Umair Sandhu, a member of the UAE censor board, The Conclusion received a standing ovation from the board during its review.[73] On 22 April, the Telugu version of The Conclusion was reviewed by the Indian Censor Board and given an U/A rating with minor cuts.[74] The Japanese Censor Board gave a rating of G with no cuts.[75] The Central Board of Film Censors, Pakistan, cleared the film with an "all clear" status and zero cuts.[76] In Singapore, the film received an 'A' (adult) certificate, which an Indiatimes report attributes to the portrayal of violent scenes.[77]
The Conclusion was released across more than 9,000 plus screens worldwide- 6500 screens in India alone, breaking the record for the widest Indian film release. It released in conventional 2D as well as in IMAX format.[78][79][80][81] This made The Conclusion the third Indian film to release in IMAX, following Dhoom 3 and Bang Bang!.[82] It was released in its original languages–Tamil and Telugu–along with dubbed versions in Hindi and Malayalam.[83] In Kerala, the film was released across 395 screens.[84] The film was released in 1,100 screens in the United States, and 150 screens in Canada.[85] The Hindi version was released in New Zealand, Australia and Fiji Islands, while the Tamil version was released in Malaysia.[85] In Pakistan, the Hindi version was released in over 100 screens.[76] The first Telugu film to be released in 4K High Definition format, close to 200 screens were upgraded to 4K projectors before the release date of the film.[86] In Japan, the film was later dubbed into Japanese and will be released on 29 December.[87] Despite the various measures taken, pirated versions of The Conclusion were available on the Internet within hours of the film's release.[88] The film was dubbed in Russian and released in Russia and neighboring territories on 11 January 2018.[89] It was censored for release in China in March 2018 and was released in Chinese on 4 May 2018.[90][91]
BAHUBALI 2
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August 13, 2018
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