„Bahubali: The Beginning„(Telugu బాహుబలి: ద బిగినింగ్, there. பாகுபலி, English Baahubali: The Beginning) is an Indian fantasy film directed by Rajamuli, filmed simultaneously in two versions in Telugu and Tamil and was released on July 10, 2015. This is the first part of the dilogy, the continuation of which „Bahubali: The Birth of a Legend" was released in 2017.

The plot of the film is based on two stories: about a prince, raised by ordinary people and not knowing about his origin, and about the confrontation between two brothers in the struggle for the royal throne. The main roles were played by Prabhas, Tamanna, Anushka Shetty and Rana Daggubati.

The film grossed over Rs 6 billion, nearly five times the production cost, and broke the previous Telugu film box office record set by Way to Aunt’s Home. It also ranked third in grossing of all films in India.

Plot

The film begins with Shivagami walking out to the foot of the waterfall with a baby in his arms. She kills the soldiers pursuing her, but is unable to cross the river. Before the wave hits her, she lifts the baby above her head, praying that he will survive. On his cry, local residents come to the river. They save the baby, but the body of the Shivagami is carried away by the river. The boy is taken up by a childless couple and named Shivuda.

Since childhood, Shivudu has dreamed of being at the top of the waterfall, and repeatedly tries to get there, but unsuccessfully, until one day, along with the stream of water, he brings someone’s mask to his feet. Realizing from the imprint in the sand that she must belong to a beautiful girl, and, inspired by this thought, he finally climbs up. Here Shivudu meets the owner of the mask – Avantika. She is a member of the resistance fighting against the brutal King Bhallaladeva and the next one on a mission to free Queen Devasena. Shivudu promises her that he will do everything himself, and for this purpose he goes to the capital of the kingdom of Mahishmati.

Arriving in the city, he helps the workers to raise the golden statue of the king, and one of them recognizes him as King Bahubali. People start chanting this name, which enrages Bhallaladeva. On the same night, Shivuda is kidnapped by Devasena, and the son of King Bhadra and the faithful slave of King Kattappa set off in pursuit. They manage to stop Shivuda, but in the ensuing battle he chops off the prince’s head. Kattappa, who rushed into the attack, stops when he sees the resemblance between Shivudu and Bahubali. By this time, resistance fighters and people living at the foot of the waterfall, who went in search of Shivuda, arrived at the battle site. Kattappa is forced to explain to Shivud and his named parents who Bahubali is.

Once upon a time in troubled times, King Vikramadeva died, and after him during childbirth, the queen also died, giving birth to Prince Bahubali. The elder brother of the deceased king, Bidjaladeva, was rejected from the throne because of his bad temper or, as he believed, because of his physical disability (dry left hand). The burden of reign was taken over by his wife Shivagami, promising to hand over the throne to her son Bhallaladeva or Bahubali, whichever is more worthy.

Both princes grew up and studied together, but Bahubali grew up to be magnanimous and humane, and Bhallaladeva – cruel and ambitious. When the army of Kallakeya attacked their kingdom, Shivagami promised to give power to whoever killed his commander in chief. Bidjaladeva arranged for most of the weapons to be transferred to Bhallaladeva’s army, but Bahubali used his ingenuity to inflict damage on the enemy even with limited resources. When Kalakeya put up a screen of civilians, Bhallaladeva broke through, despite the losses, and Bahubali was able to do without casualties. In the turmoil of the battle, Bahubali was the first to reach the commander and entered into a battle with him, but the decisive blow was delivered by Bhallaladeva who arrived in time. However, Shivagami appointed her son only command of the troops, and gave the throne to Bahubali, since he was more suited to the place of the ruler.

When Shivudu asks Kattappa what then became of Bahubali, he confesses that he killed him with his own hands.

Cast


Prabhas – Mahendra Bahubali (Shiwood) / Amarendra Bahubali

Tamanna – Avantika

Rana Daggubati – Bhallaladeva

Anushka Shetty – queen devasena

Satyaraj – Kattappa, bodyguard of the royal family

Nasser – Bidjaladeva

Ramya Krishnan – queen shivagami

Adivi Sesh – Bhadra, son of Bhalla Deva

Rohini – Sanga, adoptive mother of Shivudu

Tanikella Bharani – a priest

Sudip – Aslam Khan (cameo)

Nora Fatehi – dancer in the song „Manohari"

Scarlet Mellish Wilson – dancer in the song „Manohari"

Sneha Upadhyay – dancer in the song „Manohari"


Production

In February 2011, director S.S.Rajamuli announced that Prabhas would star in his next film. In January 2013, he announced the working title of the film: Bahubali. In addition to Prabhas, Anushka Shetty was involved in the film, for whom he became the second experience of working with the director and the third in a pair with Prabhas. Rana Daggubati, who also starred in the film, agreed to the role of the antagonist Rudhramadevi… To better get used to the role, he decided to train his body and began to study martial arts under the guidance of Vietnamese trainer Tuan. In December of the same year, Tamanna joined the cast. Ramia Krishnan and Nasser were selected for supporting roles. Kannadai-speaking actor Sudip has agreed to a small but important role. The scene with his participation was filmed in four days in July 2013.

Filming began in July 2013 at Karnula Stone Garden. The waterfall scenes were filmed at Athirapalli, Kerala. The scenery of the Mahishmati Kingdom was assembled at the Ramoji Film City studio, and the snow scenes were filmed in Bulgaria. The musical number for the song „Pacha Bottasi" was filmed at the end of July 2014. Principal photography finished at the end of 2014 at Ramoji Film City. The musical number for the song „Manohari" was completed in March 2015.

The artificial language of Kiliki used in the film, spoken by the Kalakeya tribe, was created by the poet Madhan Karki.

Soundtrack

A soundtrack album for the film was released on June 13, 2015.

All music was written by M. M. Kiravani.

All texts are written by Madhan Karki.

All texts are written by Manoj Muntashir.

Criticism

Mike McCahill of The guardian noted that „throughout Rajamuli strikes with an almost perfect balance between materiality and poetics," and concluded that the film is of the type that are always interesting and often breathtaking. Liz Tsering from The hollywood reporter wrote that although a story of this type had been told a lot before, but in the confident hands of an experienced South Indian director Rajamuli, the fairy tale got a new life. Shilpa Jamkhardinkar, in a review on Reuters’ website, called the film’s greatest achievement – that it combines „splendor on a Hollywood scale and an Indian tale of good and evil at its core," adding that the director was clearly inspired by Ridley Scott and Gladiator. … Bollywood Hungama added that the director "delivered an undeniable masterpiece; despite the fact that Bahubali looks like an entirely Indian film with its roots deeply rooted in mythology, yet it is progressive enough to refrain from the age-old cliche of showing good as stronger than evil. " Film critic Rajiv Masand described the highlight of the film as Rajamuli’s skillful interpretation of a simple yet reliable script; his ability to whip up inspiring moments; and his prowess in extracting emotion from even trivial scenarios.

Awards and nominations