After a long wait which seemed like an eternity, S. S. Rajamouli finally released the trailer of the most awaited movie of the year – Baahubali 2 – The Conclusion. Even though there has been a delay in the release of the trailer, fans had their hand full with the constant release of motion posters, comic books, VR content.
In Baahubali – The Beginning, we witness the backstory of the great warrior and noble prince, Amarendra Baahubali, being told to his son Mahendra Baahubali by his father’s killer Katappa. The same Katappa who has been Amarendra’s most trusted man and who he regarded as his uncle. So what made Katappa kill Baahubali? This question left everyone waiting for the second and final instalment of the movie.
Finally we are closer to knowing the reason behind this heart-wrenching tale. As the trailer of Baahubali 2 – The Conclusion makes its debut, we get to witness many interesting elements in it. Firstly, we get to hear Amarendra Bahubali taking the oath of serving the people of Mahishmati as a king. After a quick sequence of the previous movie’s clips, a new kingdom is shown, which may be the kingdom of Devasena, Baahubali’s wife (as showcased in the first part). Over here, Baahubali observes Devasena fighting a group of people and her valour makes him fall in love with her.
As we see the entry of Bhallala Deva / Pallvalathevan, a terrified Sivagami (foster mother of Amarendra Baahubali and mother of Bhallala Deva) says, “Antaryudh” (civil war) and post that many action / war sequences are showcased wherein Baahubali and Bhallala Deva are against each other other. Among these shots, there’s one shot which grabs our attention. In this shot, we see Baahubali sitting on a rock and kneeling in front of him is Katappa! It’s during this sequence where Katappa kills him. Why? That’s still a mystery.
Famed for its extensive use of visual effects, Baahubali – The Beginning had already set a benchmark for this sequel. And as promised by S.S. Rajamouli, the trailer is packed with many VFX shots. The grand statues, army, the aerial view of the new city, Baahubali sliding off a statue, running upwards on a wooden slanted pillar, the dance sequence’s background,the flying arrows, the elephant waterfall shot, all seem like the magical work of VFX.
Makuta VFX has worked on about 800 shots on the movie. Along with them, Firefly Creative Studio has worked on three major sequences of the movie whereas NY VFXWALLA has been roped in to work on the climax sequence. After Studio has also been commissioned to deliver four climax sequences. About 80 people from After Studio are working on it and have approximately 150 shots with them.
As revealed by VFX supervisor RC Kamalakannan, 33 studios have worked on this movie which include Pixel D, SURPREEZE, Alzahra VFX, Tata Elxsi, FutureWorks.
There’s one striking thing in the trailer which stands out throughout the two and a half minute clip. It’s the symbols on the foreheads of the characters. The symbols keep changing from one setting to another. For example: We observe the symbol of moon of Baahubali’s forehead during the first half of the clip and later we witness the symbol of ‘snake’. At the end of the clip, when the logo is revealed, we witness that many symbols are etched on the number two. Soon we will get to know the significance of it.
Directed by S.S. Rajamouli, produced by Shobu Yarlagadda and Prasad Devineni, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion is set to hit the theatres on 28 April, 2017.
