Baahubali 2 -The Conclusion Movie Review: A Worthy End To An Epic

A couple of years ago, SS Rajamouli's epic drama Baahubali-The Beginning blazed across Indian screens and made every Indian ask, ''Why did Kattapa kill Baahubali?” and finally, the answer is here in the form of Baahubali-The Conclusion starring Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Anushka Shetty, Ramya Krishnan, Sathyaraj and others.

Starting off from where the prequel ended, Kattapa starts reciting the tale of Amarendra Baahubali (Prabhas) and Bhallal (Rana), the crown princes of Mahishmati. When the queen (Ramya) decides to crown Baahubali as the king instead of the alleged rightful heir Bhallal, the latter decides to usurp the throne at any cost, setting the stage for treachery, deceit and civil war.

Baahubali, while travelling incognito in his kingdom to learn more about his subjects, comes across Devsena (Anushka Shetty), a feisty warrior-princess who he promptly falls for. However, this complicates the state of affairs at Mahishmati, leading to the banishment of Amarendra and his bride Devsena by the queen, who crowns Bhallal as the king.

On realizing that the people in the kingdom still idolize Amarendra Baahubali, Bhallal decides to kill his cousin brother in order to eliminate any potential threats to his supremacy. What happens next? How does Bhallal manage to defeat Amarendra? Will his son Mahendra Baahubali avenge his father's death? Watch the film to find out…

Prabhas, who plays the lead role, deserves due appreciation for his role as Baahubali, a character which will remind you of heroes straight out of legendary epics- Baahubali is as noble as Rama, as strong and fierce as Bhima and as gallant as Arjuna. Prabhas totally owns the role and is a sheer delight to watch, whether he is romancing a princess or slaughtering his foes with a leonine ferocity. Rana, who plays the antagonist Bhallal, has such a strong and imposing physical presence that his mere glower will make you shiver. Anushka Shetty, Ramya and Sathyaraj are dependable enough and provide able support to the narrative.

I admit that when I walked into the cinema-hall to watch the film, I was a bit cynical because sequels don't usually work in our Indian film industry but it took just five minutes into the film to realize that Baahubali-The Conclusion was a worthy successor to 'Baahubali-The Beginning'. As I had mentioned in my review of 'Baahubali-The Beginning', the film has elements of 'Mahabharata' (Kattapa brings to mind Bhishma while the rivalry between Baahubali and Bhallal has the same intensity of that between Bhima and Duryodhana), but despite this… or maybe because of this, the film not only captures your attention throughout but also makes it quite relatable.

The film is so grand, so larger-than-life and so visually appealing that you will be imprisoned in your seats from the opening credits onwards. It is quite evident that a lot of hard work and effort has gone into every frame. The cinematography, the special effects and the choreography of the war scenes are totally awe-inspiring (though the special effects in a couple of scenes come across as too fake) and will bring to mind Hollywood blockbusters like 'Troy' or '300'.

In conclusion, Baahubali-The Conclusion is a must watch…