Baahubali: The Beginning -

Despite being a “male action film,” Baahubali: The Beginning gives unusual agency to its female characters:

The famous “Kattappa question” is not just a plot hook. It is a political question: Why does the oppressed (Kattappa, the slave) kill the liberator (Baahubali)? In asking it, the film indicts not a single traitor but an entire system of loyalty, caste, and oath-binding that predates both characters. And that, perhaps, is why the image of Baahubali holding the Shivling over his head – not as a god but as a shield for his people – remains the defining icon of 21st-century Indian popular cinema. baahubali: the beginning

Baahubali: The Beginning received critical acclaim for its ambition, with Rotten Tomatoes giving it an 85% approval rating. However, Western critics often misread the film as “over-the-top” without understanding the Telugu mass cinema tradition – where exaggeration is not a flaw but a genre marker. Despite being a “male action film,” Baahubali: The