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It is rare when a Bollywood film lands in the top ten viewed flicks in the Western World; “Baahubali 2” is the highest grossing Indian film ever (the price of admission exceeds the norm) made. Is it worth the time (3 hours) and added expense? If you’re a fan of the spectacular, absolutely.
The Indus Valley Civilization traces its origins to approximately 4300 BC; The Mahabharata (500 BC) a Sanskrit epic focusing on the travails of the Bharata dynasty, containing the Bhagavad-Gita, in its over 50,000 lines; like Greek and Roman mythology, Hindu lore has constant interaction between gods and men; the god Krishna, one of Vishnu’s many avatars, is Arjuna’s charioteer, and with the most compelling, compassionate reasoning unshackles his dilemma of battling and killing his cousins; philosophy, karma, dharma resonate at the core of the Bhagavad-Gita. “Baahubali 2” is imbued and stuns with India’s ancient myths.
Director S.S. Rajamouli following the outstanding success of “Baahubali” (2015) serves an excessive extravaganza guaranteed to satisfy lusty appetites for gore, glory and revenge, served scalding hot.
Your historical knowledge of mythology, Hinduism is of little consequence; the entire film is a morality play, a metaphor for the differentiation between radiant righteousness and extraordinary evil: a queen mother, tricked into robbing the rightful heir to the throne (Rebecca-style) gifting the crown to the tainted “seed”; good-hearted Baahubali and his brother Bhallala, (like Shakespeare’s “Richard III” will resort to the lowest diabolical level to satisfy his ambitions); “Cain and Abel” references seethe beneath Bhallala’s duplicity.
Splendidly filmed, sensationally performed (Prabhas, Anushka Shetty, Rana Daggubati), enthralling special effects, touch the profound message of the Ramayan (preceded The Mahabharata) in tandem with the 10 commandments; taking the high road ultimately leads to inner peace and wisdom.
“Baahubali 2: The Conclusion” resonates with all audiences, regardless of where they reside on the globe.
THREE & 1/2 STARS!!!
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