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Friday 28 April 2017

Baahubali 2 Movie Review



Baahubali 2 gives you the high of reading an amazingly written epic novel. Director SS Rajamouli has already transported us to the world of Magizhmathi in the first part, we lived with characters, know how they smile, cry and spill anger. However,  there is still a mystery and excitement to watch the sequel. To be precise, the first part is the phase before the wedding, you think you know characteristics of your soon-to-be better half yet there is always a moment to experience an unexplored angle. 

While the first part established the revenge angle and grandiose setup with stellar war sequences, the second part is filled with a lot of emotions but don't panic action movie fans, Rajamouli also has plenty of scenes spread in a royal plate for you. 

The plot of Baahubali 2 is simple, Palvallathevan (Rana Daggubati) cunningly kills Baahubali (Father Prabhas) through Magizhmathi Kingdom's royal slave Kattapa (Sathyaraj) and also arrests Baahubali's wife Devasena (Anushka). Saved by the sacrifice of 'Rajamatha' Sivagami (Ramya Krishnan), Shiva aka Mahendra Baahubali (Prabhas) knows the cruel death of his dad and takes revenge against his uncle Palvallathevan to enthrone as the king of Magizhmathi kingdom. 


The biggest success of Rajamouli is the way he elevates the mass heroism of his protagonist. Check out this scene for an example, in the interval block, Baahubali actually loses but with the help of the people of Magizhmathi, Rajamouli majestically projects him as a Godly figure. 



The voiceless newborn baby (Mahendra Baahubali) turns into a superhero with a single powerful dialogue uttered by Sivagami. Not only heroism, Rajamouli slowly but steadily injects the revenge flavor in our veins, when Palvallathevan tries to tear the heart of Mahendra Baahubali, we feel like breaking the head of latter and it happens. Palvallathevan treated Devasena like a slave so he deserves to die in a fire and it happens.  A villain tries to sexually harass Devasena, we want his fingers to be chopped off, it happens and for that, she's captured as a prisoner, Baahubali enters and we want him to save her, it happens! Like a God, Rajamouli gives everything we wish, with Baahubali the director becomes an ultimate creator and executed a film, which the audience wanted right from the inception of Indian cinema. 

The true success of an epic film not only lies in the exceptional writing, the actors should rightly convey the emotions to the audience and man, Prabhas does it in style, he lived both as Amarendra and Mahendra Baahubali, be it in his shredded physique, sharp look and swag walk, his powerful screen presence gives an adrenaline rush. Anushka looked regal as Devasena, she got a powerful role and brings justice to the character with her authentic performance. Sathyaraj reiterated the meaning of veteran in style so as Nassar and Ramya Krishnan.



Baahubali 2's another big hero is MM Keeravani, his songs and background score are truly epic. Also, kudos to the VFX team and cinematographer for their magnificent presentation. The only negative aspect of the film is the long drawn-out revenge portion and over the top action sequences in the climax but when we are ready to accept Spiderman, Superman and Ironman, why not the towering heroism of our own superhero Baahubali!

Rating: ****


Verdict: Epicness overloaded

(Part of the review with additional inputs available here (http://www.sify.com/movies/baahubali-2--a-giant-leap-for-indian-cinema-review-tamil-re2qwajbbdggg.html)

Actors: Prabhas, Rana, Ramya Krishnan, Anushka, Nassar, Sathyaraj

Director: SS Rajamouli

Music: Keeravani 

Producers: Arka Media Works

Friday 7 April 2017

Kaatru Veliyidai Movie Review




Kaatru Veliyidai
 is a typical Mani Ratnam romantic drama with aesthetic visuals, meritorious music, classy characters and a feel-good romance but sadly,  the director fails to score as a captivating storyteller. Everything we witness in the film is a rehashed version from previous Mani Ratnam films! 

Just imagine Inba(Madhavan)  and Sashi (Meera Jasmin) from Aayutha Ezhuthu, now make the professions of both the characters more sophisticated, we get the stylish fighter pilot Varun Chakrabani aka VC(Karthi) and an independent doctor Leela Abraham (Aditi Rao Hydari). If Inba disrespects Sashi, she would express her anger,  she can't speak feminism but our Leela can.  Talking about Varun, other than his modern look,  he only shares same characteristics as Inba. 

So what happens when Varun gets arrested by Pakistan Army? He tries to escape and meet his ladylove, who decided to break up her relationship with him after witnessing several bitter experiences due to his egocentric attitude.... 

Leaving aside Ravi Varman's scintillating visuals capturing scenic locales and kingly orchestration of AR Rahman, the film's biggest strength is Aditi Rao Hydari, she owns the film with her winsome performance. The way Aditi cries, laughs and emotes completely attract us that when we leave the movie hall, she refuses to move away from our heart. However, the rest of the characters fail to create such impact. Though Karthi looks smart and fresh, he couldn't justify the young and energetic VC. There is a natural swag in Karthi but when it comes to intense romance, he still has a long way to go. 

Mani Ratnam's films are known for inimitable writing without any compromise but here everything looks so convenient and filled with plenty of logical loopholes. Especially, scenes where Karthi escaping from Pakistan Army looks so silly and contrived. 

To be precise, Kaatru Veliyidai is an exotic trip but the overall experience is not so exciting, we couldn't carry any memorable moments back home! 

Rating: 2.75/5

Verdict: An exotic trip but the overall experience is unexciting!