Baahubali 2: The Conclusion

Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (English: The One with Strong Arms: The Conclusion) is a 2017 Indian historical fiction film co-written and directed by S. S. Rajamouli. The film was produced by
Tollywood studio Arka Media Works. It is the continuation of Baahubali: The Beginning, taking place before and after the events of that film. It was originally made in both Telugu and Tamil and dubbed into Hindi, Malayalam, German, French, Japanese and English. The film stars major actors from Tollywood industry with Prabhas, Anushka Shetty, Rana Daggubati and Sathyaraj in lead roles. Initially, both parts were jointly produced on a budget of ₹250 crore (₹2.5 billion), however, the budget of the second part was increased later. Baahubali 2: The Conclusion has made a record of highest pre-release business with ₹500 crore (₹5 billion).

Baahubali 2: The Conclusion was premiered at the British Film Institute, and was theatrically released over 9000 screens worldwide on 28 April 2017. Baahubali 2 was the first Telugu film to be released in 4K High Definition format. It is estimated that close to 200 screens are being upgraded to 4K projectors before the release date of the movie.

Baahubali 2 released to positive reviews from critics and surpassed the 2014 Hindi film PK, to become the highest grossing Indian film of all time, collecting approx ₹800 crore (US$120 million) worldwide within just six days of its release. It became the first ever Indian film to gross over ₹1000 crore (US$155 million) in all languages, doing so in just ten days

Plot

In the ancient kingdom of Mahismati, an injured woman (Ramya Krishnan) emerges from a cave while carrying a baby. She kills 2 soldiers pursuing her and attempts to wade towards a village across a raging river, but fails and falls in. She clutches a branch, before pleading to God Parameshwara that "Mahendra Baahubali must live!" and holds the baby in one hand above her head before dying.

Local villagers notice the baby and rescue it. Sanga (Rohini) and her husband name the infant Sivudu and raise him as their own son. The villagers seal the staircase leading up the waterfall, fearing that someone may come to take away the child.

Sivudu (Prabhas) grows up to be a strong, adventurous young man who tries to climb the waterfall, with minimal success. After carrying a stone Shiva lingam to the waterfalls, he finds a wooden mask which has fallen. Driven to find the owner of the mask, he attempts to climb the waterfall again and succeeds. After his ascent, Sivudu discovers that the mask belongs to Avantika (Tamannaah), a rebellious warrior of a group engaged in guerrilla warfare against Emperor Bhallaladeva (Rana Daggubati) of Mahismati. The group, led by Devasena's brother (Balireddy Pruthviraj), intends to rescue their former queen Devasena (Anushka Shetty) who has been imprisoned in the kingdom for the past 25 years. Avantika is given the opportunity to rescue the queen.

Avantika falls in love with Sivudu after finding out that he climbed the waterfall for her. Sivudu pledges to help her in her mission and sneaks into Mahishmati to rescue Devasena. Sivudu rescues Devasena and flees with her, but is chased down by Bhallaladeva's son, Bhadra (Adivi Sesh) and the king's royal slave warrior Kattappa (Sathyaraj). After Sivudu beheads Bhadra, Kattappa drops his weapon, realizing that Sivudu is Mahendra Baahubali, the son of late king Amarendra Baahubali. Kattappa narrates the story of Amarendra's past.

Amarendra's mother died while giving birth to him, while his father had died long before that. His uncle Bijjaladeva was deemed unfit to rule due to his crooked nature, however he believes he was denied the throne due to his disability. Bijjaladeva's wife Sivagami assumed control of the kingdom with Kattappa's assistance until a new king was selected. Amarendra Baahubali and Bhallaladeva were brought up together, trained in areas including arts, science, disguise, politics, and warfare, but both of them have different approaches towards kingship. Amarendra Baahubali is gracious to everyone, and is loved by the people. Bhallaladeva is violent and achieves his goals by any means possible.

It is revealed that Mahismathi is about to be attacked by an army of savages called Kalakeyas. Bijjaladeva (Nassar), Bhallaladeva's father proposes that the prince who kills Inkoshi, the king of Kalakeyas, will be the future king of Mahishmati and the chief minister agrees with him. Sivagami nevertheless, says that it is princes' duty to protect and defend their country and orders that Mahishmati's war resources be distributed fairly among her two sons. Bijjaladeva uses his guile to make sure Bhallaladeva gets the maximum war resources.

The Kalakeyas are given an opportunity to change their minds. The Kalakeya king Inkoshi rejects their offer and insults Queen Sivagami by saying he will have children with her. An enraged Sivagami says she wants Inkoshi brought to her alive, but with his limbs chopped off, so that she can feed him to the vultures. During the battle, the Kalakeyas use a dirty tactic of using the prisoners of Mahishmati as shields. Bhallaladeva plowed through the line of innocent prisoners with his chariot which had blades turning and kills them. Amarendra, on the other hand, caused them to fall down and attacked the Kalakeyas behind them, thus saving the prisoners. When it seems that Mahishmati would end up being defeated, Amarendra inspires his soldiers to fight back and they end up crushing the enemy. While Amarendra defeated Inkoshi and was about to obey the words of Sivagami by chopping off his limbs, Bhallaladeva swings his weapon from a distance and kills him. Despite Bhallaladeva being the one to kill Inkoshi, Sivagami announces Amarendra Baahubali as the new emperor because of his courage and leadership exhibited in the war and also because of the fact that he shielded and protected his own countrymen throughout the war.

After the flashback, when asked about Amarendra's current whereabouts, a tearful Kattappa reveals that Amarendra is dead, and that he is the one who killed him.