As the titles for Baahubali: The Beginning showed up on screen, a decidedly juvenile thought crossed my mind. "It'll be hilarious if they write 'Baahubali: The Intermission' during the mid-way mark and 'Baahubali: The Conclusion' at the end of the movie," I thought, chuckling to myself and not daring to share that thought with the person sitting next to me.
And, well, that's exactly what happens. Only, by the time that final slate appeared on screen, I wasn't chuckling anymore.
Baahubali: The Beginning is a grand and largely impressive epic by Telugu film director S. S. Rajamouli. With budget estimates swinging wildly between Rs 170 crore and Rs 220 crore, it is rightly being touted as the most expensive Indian movie ever made. It is one of the first Indian films to make use of the costly Arri Alexa XT camera, now a staple in big-budget Hollywood productions, and utilised elaborate sets constructed in Hyderabad's Ramoji Film City.
The story is a familiar composite of Hindu mythologies and Hamlet-like story elements, with Prabhas playing the curious and sinewy-armed protagonist Shivundu, a young man who grows up in a village at the base of a giant, ethereal waterfall that begins above the clouds. He has a rogue-ish grin and an impossibly charming presence, which makes it difficult to fault him even when he, at one point, breaks into a silly dance that recalls Salman Khan from 'O O Jaane Jaana'.
