Move over Hollywood...Here we come!

One is always wary of over hyped products. Either the product is genuinely good and the surprise element is annihilated with the over sell or the makers are anxious with an inferior product created and are trying to generate noise to distract. It is with this trepidation that I approached viewing of BB2.

BB ( the first part ) was a decent experience with some rough edges in special effects but the story telling despite it’s over the top loudness was in a different stratosphere aided by some really good looking cast. BB2 in that sense does not disappoint you and actually surprises you with it’s deft & breathless storytelling and not pulling anything short on special effects. There is none of the overt focus and thrill on having cracked some delectable VFX and chest thumping to answer back to the tag of the Indian Film Industry an underdog in comparison with their smarter counterparts in the west. With this, that discussion can be laid to rest. We can make our Gladiators, Star Wars and Spiderman now and impressively. The Vfx is now only incidental to the storyline.

Fairy tales and mythical stories are always outlandish and that is why they lend themselves so well to visual artistry as the boundaries are only what the creators choose to stop at. Collaborated with intense story telling the end result can be startling. I remember Narnia as a classic and impressive example of that.

The story builds from the beginning of the first instalment tracing back the back story of Bahubali ( Prabhas) whose father also Bahubali ( Prabhas again) is one of the two children of a queen ( Ramya) and essentially battles his brother Bhalla ( Rana Dagubatti) with an evil scheming father. Bahubali with his immense strength , sense of fair justice and good looks is seen as a natural heir to the throne by his mother sidelining the natural protocol of choosing her elder son.

Bahubali is a blindly loyal son and on instructions from his queen mother sets on a journey of learning about his subjects with his loyal commander Katappa ( Sathyaraj) and comes across a beautiful princess who he wishes to marry but cannot because he is in disguise as a commoner.

What happens thereafter forms part of a breathtaking spectacle though at places tiresome storytelling relieved only when the special effects steps in and shakes you up. Note especially a thrilling encounter in a corridor with an army stylishly executed. Be it the encounters with the elephants, charging bulls, flaming livestock , the vfx has been executed with incredible hardwork and seeming perfection. At places you do feel the animation a bit out of place as some of the visuals of the palaces and kingdom, where hard structures are panned against a background of superimposed extensions of building graphics. The difference in shades perhaps look a bit awkward and distract from the otherwise massive scale of the art design.

The cast acts and over acts as is emphasized in all mythologies and stories of the evil and the good in the days of yore when all had to scream , grimace and shout to be heard and influence people around. You can barely take your eyes of Prabhas a brilliant mix of compassion, strength and grace bolstered with good looks. He even over shadows the heroine Anushka Shetty who holds her ground and an equally handsome Rana who seems let down by the story making him look like a very strong confused man.

The movie is overly long and at times feels like a never ending Chandamama story. Made me feel like the director was so much in love with what he had shot that he refused to give in to the editor. But this should not take away from a thoroughly entertaining film that is if you like mythologies and historicals with more than decent special effects. The scale is grandiose, the music very average especially in the Hindi version awkwardly retrofitted. The dubbing too tends to distract but guess they did not have much choice and re-shooting could have been too expensive. BB2 does seem tiresomely repetitive for the first 45 minutes before the director takes control and moves out from the loud palace to the more down to earth surrounding of the commoners.

Rajamouli has without doubt set a new benchmark on size and scale and buffeting it with strong special effects sheen like never before. And whether the question that was whatsApp rage joke for the last one year all one can say it is silly but smart marketing. Your jaws won’t drop for sure.

But the jaws will drop for sure with pride and surprise when cows with flaming horns charge or when Prabhas creates a lasting image as he strides lithe and agile over an elephant. Do watch it with the kids who have never read the Amar Chitra Katha or Chandamama and have been fed on a diet of superman and Spiderman movies. They will be enamoured.