prafulb

The story is good and had a potential to be a Marvel like empire. But lacks a taut screenplay. Should have taken cues from Lokesh Kannagraj who did it with his Khaidi Universe.

In parts Brahmastra is fine and music is good. But thats all where the good things end unfortunately.

Ranbir is a very good actor but somehow looks bored/disinterested here. The love story track is cringe at the best. The interval sequence is engaging but the climax is dud. And they did Mauni bad, why was she still in that Naagin mode? The visuals are fine but the 3D gives headache. Cant understand why Ayaan gave 10 years of his life for this. His earlier work is far far better. Had very high expectations on this but the end result is just an overhyped flashy product that fails to connect. Giving 2 stars only to recognize Ayan's 10 year dedication, but sad at the final product. Despite my skepticism, hope the second part (if they make it) is better.

Doing a biography based on the legend Savitri ji is no small feat. But Nag Ashwin has upped the ante with this beautiful masterpiece. Nag showed his potential in his debut "Yevade Subramaniam" and this time around, with "Mahanati" he has yet again proved that he is a master story teller. So glad that Telugu cinema is experimenting with such new ideas in the midst of mediocre / sub-par cacophony that is routinely churned out. Mahanati is a breath of fresh air and it not just tells the story of Savitri ji in such a lyrical fashion but also interweaves it with a parallel track of Vani+Anthony (Sam & Vijay D.). But the real hero of the movie is of course Keerthi Suresh and boy can she act !! And double the bonus of Dulquer Salman as Gemini Ganesan and we are glued to the screen from start to finish. No one, I repeat, no one, can replace Savitri ji but Keerthy's acting is so impeccable that I am sure Savitri ji will be extremely proud of her. A tragic tale of rags to riches to rags would have been a taxing & boring experience for the audience but thankfully the actors elevate the screenplay to make a memorable experience. The numerous cameos are great and casting Dr. Mohan Babu as SVR is kind of a casting coup. Additional brownie points for getting perfect cast - sort of a casting coup. I couldn't help draw the parallel's between Savitri ji to Meena Kumari ji to even the Divya Bharti -- such loneliness at the top and losing out to alcohol. All that glitters (in the showbiz) is truly not gold. Sad! Mahanti deserves all the praise it gets and I will be very much surprised if Keerthi doesn't win the National Award next year. Truly amazed by her talent. Hopefully she gets even better movies hereafter. Also I will eagerly look forward for Nag Ashwin's next project. If you yearn for a good movie then you must not miss this epic tale. Regional Indian cinema at its finest.

PS:- I barely understand Telugu and I watched this movie at Hyderabad without subtitles. Fine story telling, such as this, transcends all language barriers - thats the beauty of cinema.

Baahubali is everything what I love in cinema and salute to Rajmouli and the entire team for telling this story in this mind blowing way. I cannot get over it. I watched Telugu and Hindi versions, Sharad Kelkars voice for Baahubali takes "dubbing" to a whole new level. When was the last time a dubbed movie dialogue gave you goosebumps? The work done on dubbing is unparalleled and no wonder the Hindi audience has loved it and appreciated it so much. Kudos. Having said that and having watched the Telugu version too,I feel that there is something lost in translation. Especially the songs, the powerful lyrics of Dandalayya are not conveyed properly in Jay Jay Kara. In Hamsa Navva it says "Mecchindile Devasena", which means Devasena approves - just shows the strong character of Devasana which gets lost in "Bas Teri hai Devasena" and very powerful last lines in Sahore Bahubali:- " Anta Maha Baludainaa, Amma vodi pasivaade Shivudainaa, Bhavudaiyna, ammaku saati kaadantaade" That cannot control tears are just non-existent in Hindi. Even The war cry "Heysa Rudrasa, Heysarabhadra Samudrassa" in the song is toned down by translation. I am not trying to find flaws, the Hindi songs in isolation are wonderful and A-class but you will do yourself a great favor if you watch this movie in its original Telugu language glory and trust me even if you don't understand the language, you will cherish the experience. Yes the story is inspired from our epics of Ramayan, Mahabharata or even Lion King but who cares. The presentation is awesome, the story telling is awesome and it touches your hearts. There were multiple scenes where the audience ruptured into thunderous applause and that's the magic of cinema. I am amazed to see the plethora of negative reviews. To each his own but most of the bad reviews appear from jealous folks. Ignore these reviews, Baahubali doesn't merit any reviews. Baahubali 2 is an experience to cherish. Watch it on big screen, ideally a single screen with crazy crowd. Cherish it, because it will be years before something like this comes out of India. Cherish it because it is the victory of regional Indian cinema. It has broken the stale stereotypes of Bollywood and rewritten history. Salute once again to Rajamouli, Keeravani, Prabhas, Rana, Anushka, Ramya Krishna, Nasser, Sathyaraj, Tammanah and everyone else in the Baahubali team. Not just the Telugu states, but we all Indians are proud of you!