“I believe in everything until it's disproved. So I believe in fairies,
the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it's in your mind. Who's to say that
dreams and nightmares aren't as real as the here and now?”
― John Lennon.
Monsoon
always sets in the month of June in Kerala. Monsoon brings a rainbow of
feelings and its nostalgic for any Keralite. Than any other years I was
anxiously awaiting the monsoon last year, but it got delayed. And I was battling the worst stages of Clinical Depression
and I believed that the onset of Monsoon will miraculously cure my condition.
It
was in the last days of last june that a dear friend of mine rang me to say
that I must see Bahubali with my family. He emphasized that Bahubali deserves
attention more than any other movie of recent past and laid stress on that name
when speaking. I admitted to him that I hadn’t given much thought to it
till then. It just didn’t catch my attention: I was cluttered with the vagaries
of my own mind. I was going through the terrible motions of daily life, often
with little pleasure or enthusiasm. No matter how beautiful the poetry or music
or cinema that had once excited me, I could bear them no more. Not even a song
or a line or a bar. An ominous mass weighed upon me. This horrible sense of
aloneness and pointlessness – it was just this inexplicable mass – it had come
and it wasn’t good. Like Gena Rowlands in that John Cassavetes movie, I was a
woman under the influence.
First
I tried to resist his suggestion. But then, he was always a stickler. And I had
to succumb. Looking back in retrospect, it was one of the best decisions I had
taken in a year of gloom. Will express that at length in a bit.
Either my husband or kids hadn’t heard
or seen much about the movie except the poster signs of a hunk of a man lifting
a huge stone tablet for some strange reason. None of us were intrigued despite
the fact that Eega and Magadheera were regular entertainment fare
on our home TV. But, alas, we didn’t realize that the man behind Bahubali was
the same person behind these movies too. Within a few minutes, everything fell
into place. Suddenly we all voiced the same thing: We need to see Bahubali!
Today itself! But reality told us that the film has been running to packed
houses all over the state even in its eighth week of release! But
nothing can stop a family from reaching its goal.
And
by some strange alchemy, we find ourselves inside a movie theatre. Darkness
visible. Amidst the darkness, two beams of torch light swept the theatre.
Titles
appear on the screen…
The
film opens into a wet landscape dressed with abounding greenery. And it was not
like the usual ‘’scenery’’ of Indian movies. I have always been fascinated by
films that illustrates our role in and conflict with the natural world, and
that doesn’t mean films about natural disasters or grizzly bears or wrathful
deserts or foreboding seas or minacious mountains. This was different.
Then
whole interior of the movie house reflected a silver waterfall curtain that
sparkled as it cascaded down; dense vegetation interspersed with glittering
crystal accents; streams reflect lush tropical forest. And I felt it was like a
gentle reminder: that you are not infinite, and how small we are in the
grand scheme of things. The life cycle is all around you. It also reminded me
that life is fleeting – yes, life is not for depression – and it had a calming
effect on me. It was so pure and calm that every detail is clearly visible;
every leaf and twig mirrors all the surrounding vegetation.
A
rare combination of cinematic excellence and impressive natural scenery
follows. And…
(Here
I have to digress a little: To say that a filmmaker knows his medium is to say
that he knows how a shot is planned, how it is framed, how a tracking shot is
achieved, all of which are technicalities which even the least gifted might
learn in a few months, or years. But here, S. S. Rajamouli, through Bahubali,
goes beyond the craftsmanship. The interaction between the human and natural
levels make the latter a metaphor for the former. And, interestingly, the
natural world acts as a contrasting mechanism for all that is tragically absurd
in the confused human world. And this helps Rajamouli to maintain the right
balance between good and evil throughout the film. Thus his motifs are occasions
for conflict between man and his fellow man. Also, these dissonances are
significant on a moral level.)
…and
a personal miracle ensues. My gaze fell upon a swarm of Blue Morpho
butterflies. Kaleidoscopic magic! I said personal miracle because, years back,
while googling for something else, I had stumbled upon a Blue Morphos for the
first time and my love for them has been growing ever since!
And
then the screen unfolds the form, posture and plumage of some unique faces from
the avian and animal world.
Rajamouli
succeeds in capturing the magical elements of nature as a natural part in the
otherwise realistic environment of Athirappalli. Here is an Indian filmmaker
whom you can call unhesitatingly a fabulist. In his world, fables, myths,
and allegory galore! The laws of gods and men becomes indistinguishable in
Rajamouli’s world.
A
good year has passed since first visiting the glorious world of Bahubali.
But not a scene is forgotten. Life changes for you – at times it is whimsical,
at times it is a bitch, at times it is beautiful. But some things remain
unchanged and only get better as time as time goes on: Bahubali is one
such thing. The spiritual universality of Bahubali helped me to master
myself when I was going through a bad phase in life.
And
I need to add a few lines about the music of the film. As we all know, film
music is an improvised accompaniment for the subject and can do a variety of
things. It can introduce the setting, establish an atmosphere, and fashion a
mood. And Rajamouli exults here in reinforcing the narrative developments
through his dazzling score and thereby elucidating characters’ motivations and
helping us know what each and every one is thinking. A film of simmering
passions need to have a musical score like this and Rajamouli triumphantly
manages to match his thrilling screenplay and pitch-perfect performances with a
euphonic selection of Keeravani’s songs. To put it briefly, music is so useful
to Bahubali because it does so much simultaneously - a perfect marriage
between music and image.
Apart
from all these delicious things, I think that there is something else Bahubali
can do to me. Like Shiva’s pursuit of truth behind the mask, there is
something else waiting for me: idealistic, abstract, metaphysical,
preternatural?
Thanks to Rajamouli and his
crew..that was an enchanting visual treat.
P.S. I know why Kattappa killed
Bahubali! :P
#Bahubali #filmreview #movingon
