Memoir

We all are humans afterall

'We all are humans After all' is something I realised today after watching Bahubali-2 today. A year and a half ago when I watched Bahubali-the Beginning I was mesmerized by the story. Being a reader and fantasy lover I loved everything about the movie. The movie was not just a one time watch for me but it has life-altering effect on me. For years I have stopped watching movies with interest. Since I started reading in 2011 books became my friends and movies took a back seat. Movies became an activity done to pass time and not something to enjoy. Very rarely it happened that I watched a Bollywood movie and actually enjoyed it. Movies have no charm for me anymore, and it didn't bother me. I was happy in my life but that fateful night of October, 2015 changed that for me because it was then I watched Bahubali for the first time on Set Max channel. Until that point of time I haven't even heard of the name Bahubali. Since long I have lost interest in movies and had no knowledge of what movie was releasing when. I knew nothing about this magnificent movie until that point. That night I watched that movie, albeit not complete as the run time of the movie was past, way past my bedtime but even that half seen movie changed y perspective towards movies. Now I was eager to watch that movie. I started to notice the time the movie will come again on tv.
A few weeks later when the movie came on tv again, I was more excited to watch it this time. I wanted to see it from start to end. But it happened again I was unable to watch the complete movie and this time I asked my brother if we have this movie in computer and when he replied in affirmation, I said to myself; "finally I'm going to complete it!"

And I saw the movie on computer and I was in awe. The massive war sequence with the Kalkeyas was Awe worthy, mesmerizing. My most favourite scenes from Bahubali included the war sequence. The war techniques used in the movie were something I have never seen before. Be it Bhallal Deva's chariot which has blade studded wheels cutting soldiers into pieces during war or Bahubali's clever technique of using oiled clothes tied to the big balls thrown at the enemies and then using just one burning arrow to lit several enemies on fire. The movie has it all that lured the book/fantasy lovers in and turned them into movie fans. This happen with me. The movie made me realise that there is still some good cinema left in our world and we must not miss it. I remember watching the complete movie on computer and that left me wanting more. I wanted to see the movie on big screen. I asked myself "why it was only then that I learned about that movie? why when the movies was made under the banner of Dharma Productions, a very reputable Production House of Bollywood, we never heard about it?" Especially the epic cliffhanger "Why Katappa Killed Bahubali?" Left me wanting more. I couldn't believe my eyes when movie ended. I couldn't comprehend why would someone end the movie there. It never happened before. Not one movie that I have watched in my then 25 years of life has ended with a cliffhanger. How can this happen. It was later on that my brother told me that it has second part which will be released in 2016. And since that day I have been waiting for the second part of the magnanimous Bahubali.
And today on 29th April, 2017, a year and a half later, when the long wait ended I'm not feeling as excited. The movie was a delightful watch I cannot deny it. I cannot deny the charm Bahubali have or the strength Devasena displayed or the cunning and scheming nature of Bhallaladeva and Bijjaldeva were spot on. But still I feel disappointed in Sivagami.
The one character of Bahubali that  I loved and praised the most was Sivagami. The ideal, principled woman who remain impartial to both her sons. Who gave equal rights to both her son and nephew. Who remained loyal to the throne and never got corrupted with power. Who would proudly acclaimed in the movie;

"Ye mera vachan h or mera vachan hi h shasan!"

The woman whose words were the rule of the Mahishmati Kingdom was my idol till today but that changed. Suddenly she was not as ideal and principled as she was two years ago.
Bahubali2 the Conclusion proved that we are all humans and even if it's a fantasy movie like Bahubali, we humans are still humans full of flaws and definitely not perfect.
People may say that Bahubali is a fantasy movie but the emotions and the phases of human character shown in it are not fantasy. They are real, too real. You may say the movie is inspired by Ramayana and Mahabharata but I see real life in it.
A week in theatres or even before people will make a list of flaws found in the movie. There will be YouTube videos showing the mistakes done in the movie or some other things like they did in the case of the first movie in the series but you know what that won't change the thrill and excitement you feel when you see Bahubali fighting or the inevitable face-off between nephew and uncle. You might feel that the hype that surrounded the cliffhanger question #WKKB was not justified by the answer but that scene will still bring you to tears. It will be hard to believe what happened really happened.

The only disappointment in this movie for me has been Sivagami. Don't mistake my words by thinking Ramya Krishna's acting must be bad, to the contrary she did a marvelous job in portraying her role to the best of her abilities. But it was the change in her character that disappointed me. She was my ideal. As a writer after watching Bahubali I said to myself;
"If only I could create just one powerful and righteous character like her I will be satisfied!"
But Bahubali2 proved that even she is not as righteous and flawless as she was shown in the beginning, and that have me disappointed.
But however disappointed I feel I learned a great lesson that no one is perfect, we are all humans after all.