Part 6! And I’m still not even to intermission. Oh well, we are all having fun talking about it, so I guess it doesn’t matter. (part 1 here, part 2 here, part 3 here, part 4 here, part 5 here, and my speculative post on all the missing scenes here)
My last section set up the love triangle. Prabhas and Anushka, in the happy Kuntala kingdom, have been playing love games with each other, but she has just sung a love song to Krishna that essentially confesses her love for Prabhas. And meanwhile, back in Mahishmati, Rana’s spy tells him of their love, and shows him a picture of Anushka, and he falls in love/lust/obsession at the sight of it. This inspires him to a terrible plan, maneuvering Ramya to promise she will marry him to Anushka. And so now we have a love triangle, Anushka and Prabhas in love, but Rana in love with her as well, and with the support of his mother.
The end of Rana and Ramya’s scene was Ramya calling for plates of gold and luxurious silks and all kinds of gifts to send to the Kuntala kingdom with her son’s proposal. And then we go straight to Kuntala, to see how these all are received. There is an overhead shot of dozens of servants holding plates of loaded with gold, huge baskets of gold sitting on the ground, all of it filling the Kuntala pavilion. The pure white flowering pavilion, dominated by the wealth of Mahishmati.
And an older bearded man from Mahishmati is reading off a proposal from Ramya for her son for Anushka. The only thing I have a hard time with in this scene is WHY WOULDN’T SHE SAY HIS NAME????? Why would you just say “my son”? Nobody talks like that! At least, nobody who has two sons. You say “my oldest son” or “my son Rana” or “my son who isn’t going to be king”. I mean, if nothing else, isn’t that important information for Anushka to have before she makes her decision on the proposal?
Although that goes back to Anushka’s point in response to the proposal. I can’t capture the dialogue, it had the kind of awkward translation in the subtitles that tells me there were a bunch of very specific insults which just don’t translate. But the essential meaning is, “I’m not going to marry some weakling who needs his mother to propose for him! Who expects to attract me by sending gold and wealth. I reject this proposal, with prejudice.” And when the messenger appeals to her brother and sister-in-law, they both respond “hey, nothing to do with us! She can say what she wants and do what she wants.”
Speaking of that brother, Apu pointed out in the comments that it is her brother who becomes the leader of the rebels. And I confirmed it by checking the cast list. So there is definitely another missing scene, of Anushka reuniting with her only living relative! But that also adds another level to this scene. First, her brother was always kind of a peaceful guy, while Anushka was the warrior. But when the situation changed, he turned into a hardened leader of a warrior band who forbade beauty and any kind of distraction. A sad sign of how the entire kingdom had changed after being conquered. Second, as we see in this scene, he knows and respects that Anushka is the stronger one. He lets her write her own response, not just because it is her right to do so, but because she can do it better than he can, she is better at these things than he is. And so, when he is leading the rebels, his main focus is rescuing her, not just because she is his beloved sister, but because she is the one who can better lead the kingdom in a battle situation.
There’s also the fact that Anushka is absolutely right in her arguments. I mean, Ramya doesn’t even tell her which son! She is supposed to agree to the proposal just because, essentially, Ramya is asking her. That’s how the proposal is structured, she gets the gold and valuables that Ramya picked out and organized, and the messenger that Ramya picked, and the message Ramya wrote. This interaction here, this is entirely between the two women, not Anushka and Rana.
In the comments, avani questioned whether “love triangle” is even the write phrase to use, since Rana’s feelings for Anushka at this point are so unclear. I argued that it is still a triangle, even if Rana doesn’t feel “love” for Anushka, he is courting her. However, now that I think about this scene again, I am thinking that it might more accurately be considered a love triangle between Prabhas, Anushka, and Ramya. Ramya is doing all the courting, and Ramya is the one that Anushka rejects, and Ramya is the one whose “love” (or whatever you would call someone who decides they want someone just based on a portrait) turns to hate.
In a larger sense, Anushka rejecting this proposal isn’t just calling into question the manner of proposing, but Ramya’s whole way of running her kingdom. She takes charge, she uses oppressive wealth and power to get what she wants. Oh, and uses some old bearded guy as her emissary, she may be a woman running the kingdom, but there are no other women involved in government. And she doesn’t let anyone else do anything, even her sons to run their own romances. In this case, it is Rana who she is trying to force a romance on to. But later, she will try to force a romance away from Prabhas. She has lost so much perspective that even this very personal decision, she still feels is something that she should decide for them.
(It’s very Amrish-Puri-in-DDLJ of Ramya. Speaking of, did you all see my new DDLJ post yesterday? Everyone’s been nagging me “do more DDLJ! Do more DDLJ!” and then I do, and it doesn’t get any views. Comment! If you want me to keep doing them, Comment!)
Oh, but, the misunderstandings!!!!! Kattappa, assuming as always that Ramya can do no wrong, leaps to the idea that Ramya meant Prabhas in her proposal. I wonder if this is something he does a lot? When Ramya does something unclear, Kattappa takes the best possible interpretation of it? In this case, her somewhat insulting and unclear proposal, is translated by Kattappa into “Ramya has sensed that this is the perfect woman for Prabhas and is trying to help!”
When Kattappa comes running to the kitchens to tell Prabhas what has happened, he describes it as “good news and bad news”, and Prabhas suggests that he tell both pieces and let Prabhas decide which is which. To Kattappa, Ramya’s presumed approval is the best possible news, and Anushka’s refusal of the formal proposal from her is the worst possible news. But Prabhas is wiser, not just about love but about power. Ramya’s proposal is meaningless, this is his choice to make and her approval, while pleasant, is not necessary to him. Anushka’s refusal of that proposal is similarly meaningless, it was not a proposal “from him”, it was from Ramya on his behalf, Anushka’s refusal was of Ramya, not him. The only thing that matters is the message this says about Anushka, that she is not interested in marriage to anyone, at least not a formal marriage with a formal proposal. Prabhas focuses on that, and has no interest in the Ramya side of things. While Kattappa does the reverse.
And then, fight scene!!! In the middle of the conversation, Prabhas suddenly freezes as though he is listening to something. And we cut to see him striding across the courtyard. Prabhas does such a great job, just the way he is walking across the courtyard in this scene, it isn’t just a change from how he moves as a “simpleton who lives in the kitchen”, it’s a change from his usual “kingly” walk too. Suddenly, he is moving like he is going to war. And the pretty Kuntala courtyard changes from a place of fun and frolic, to a battlefield.
(Like this)
I wonder if it is because of this change in his posture that Subbaraju reacts to him the way he does? Prabhas demands to know where Anushka’s chambers are, and Subbaraju stops him, at first in more or less his usual pompous way, and then with real authority, striking Prabhas in the chest hard enough to shove him backwards. Like Prabhas, he is falling into wartime behavior, even without realizing it.
Prabhas accepts the blow and then grabs the massive chariot sitting behind him and throws it into the air, seemingly at Subbaraju. Making the audience think for a moment that Prabhas is too petty to ignore a blow from another man who is trying to prevent him from seeing his lover. Which seems unlike him. So it is extra exciting when we see the chariot just miss Subbaraju and instead fall onto the Pindaris who have started streaming into the courtyard.
Oh, this battle sequence is so great! I won’t bother going through it scene by scene, but there are a few moments I want to point out. First, avani in the comments suggested that the Prabhas was looking for Anushka’s chamber not because he thought she was in danger as a “damsel in distress”, but because he thought the whole attack might be a reprisal for the trap she set for the Pindaris back when they first met. She is in danger as a fighter and a strategist, not as a woman. And our little glimpse of her in the chamber is great too, a classical “beautiful princess” shot of her starting away, behind a veil, hair long and loose. And then the next time we see her, instead of hiding away in her chamber, she has tied up her hair, put on her fighting clothes, and is striding around looking for the fight.
(the opposite of Kajal in Magadheera. Boy she was useless!)
Meanwhile, Kattappa has gone off to look for back-up. Remember the “kshastriya” and caste message? This sequence, which will be echoed in the end battle, is part of the reason I am not buying that it is a strictly caste based message. Kattappa has gone (presumably with Prabhas’ support and possibly at his suggestion) to ask the cowherds to help in the battle. They argue that they can’t help, they are just cowherds, and Kattappa convinces them they can. And then has them use their skills to help as they can, sending a stampede of cows with fire wrapped around their horns towards the enemy. The “kshastriya” aren’t the only ones who have use in a battle, and the only ones who can defend the kingdom, or should defend the kingdom. They just happen to have the skills needed, because they have spent their whole lives training.
There’s another Kshastriya part of this sequence, when Subbaraju is hiding in the women’s chamber, and Prabhas comes swinging in to give him a knife and tell him that he has the strength, he was able to shove Prabhas back, he just has never had a reason to use it. But he will find that reason now. And he does! As the Pindaris break through the door, at first Subbaraju is a failure, immediately wounded and falling. But he manages to make one blow, forcing a Pindari to fall down and impale himself on the knife Prabhas gave Subbaraju. And that inspires him to rise up and fight off the rest of them, finally finding his bravery. This could be read as his innate Kshastriya powers coming to the front. But I think it can also be read as his Kshastriya training. Presumably Subbaraju, just like Prabhas and Anushka, spent his whole life from childhood doing weapons training and drills and so on. He may have never been able to really put that training into action, but then he never had a reason before. Prabhas knows that now, not just that Subbaraju has the strength, but that that strength only comes out in times of great stress (like when he confronted Prabhas earlier). And that is why he has never seemed capable before, but in fact is.
And then of course there’s the moment when Prabhas meets up with Anushka in battle. As I said, when last we saw her she was the perfect princess in a tower kind of look. But that’s not the kind of heroine she is, so when we see her again, she isn’t waiting to be rescued, she is looking for a fight. And she does pretty well, a troupe of Pindari comes towards her and she shoots off arrow after arrow, holding them off. But she can’t quite drive them back. When Prabhas shows up.
I love how this battle is framed. Anushka needs to be rescued, Prabhas isn’t just taking charge because he is the man, she really does need help. But, she isn’t useless, she gets her own moment of showing her amazing warrior skills. She needs help not because she is “a woman”, but because she is a very good fighter who needs back-up at the moment. I’ll put it another way, this sequence would have played out the exact same way if Anushka were a man.
Although it wouldn’t have been as romantic. Not romantic because Prabhas is “rescuing” her, but because of how they fight together. He appears behind her, shooting three arrows at a time, and steadily driving back the attackers. And again, his posture, his way of walking, has changed. This is Prabhas in his element as a warrior, striding across a battlefield like a God, not Prabhas as the foolish joking man she has known until now. And it is that, seeing him as all he is capable of, that Anushka reacts to as she watches him. And the first thing he says to her is not “I love you” or “are you safe” or “keep back and let me handle this”, it is to give her brusk directions on how to accomplish the 3-arrows-from-a-single-bow trick. And then they perform essentially a little dance, perfectly balanced together, moving forward through the battlefield, changing angles and trading places as needed to get the best shot. Prabhas shows up as his “real” self, then invites her to join him as a partner, and we get to see them working together as partners. This is as close as we can get to a marriage proposal for these two, this moment of perfect battle together is more “them” than any love song or dance would be. Just like Prabhas 2 will romance Tamannah through a fight scene, it’s the easiest way for these kind of people to communicate, they are fighters not talkers.
Oh, and the culmination of the scene is two moments. First, when Anushka turns to look at Prabhas and sees him seemingly taking aim directly at her. But she simply stands still and lets the arrows pass so close to her head that they brush past her earrings to kill the Pindari sneaking up behind her. Showing that she has complete faith and trust in him, and he knows it, knows that she will not move even a centimeter. And second, when they have to share a bow at the end, wrapped up into a single person drawing back the bow together. If the earlier scenes are foreplay, moving separately but in tune, this is the, well, the actual act of intimacy, turning themselves into one.
Oh shoot, I missed a scene back in Mahishmati in the middle of this. Oh well, I’ll catch it next time.
dontcallitbollywood 
That write up of the shooting scene is the best one I’ve read so far. Love it! Thank you for the detailed scene by scene analysis 🙂 Makes me relive the movie.
Baahubali coming as back up to join Devasena in the battle is exactly the right way for their romance to proceed. A match of equals, perfect partners, in sync with each other at every step. That whole sequence was flawless.
You can see Baahu and Kattappa’s rhythm when they fight together. Devasena and Baahu exude the same harmony here.
P.S – I have an entire other theory about the Baahu-Bhalla-Devasena triangle where all of Bhalla’s actions are motivated by his jealousy of Baahu. And the triangle is a byproduct of that, rather than any lust/love/attraction for Devasena by Bhalla.
LikeLike
the fighting scene reminds me a dance more than anything else! what in a different movie would be a dance. Showing how they are perfectly in synch and challenge each other but support each other. Only, Anushka and Prabhas would never waste time dancing, we saw that in Bahubali 1, Prabhas just sitting and watching while the dancing girls danced for him. So instead they do this.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m so glad we reached this chunk! (It has some of my favorite scenes, and ahh, so many of your insights here are amazing!)
– You are so right that Ramya’s proposal makes no sense, especially the fact that she doesn’t even mention which son it is for! But that plays into her arrogance, doesn’t it, and her complete disregard of Anushka’s wishes. From her POV, Anushka should just be grateful that Mahishmati has chosen her as a daughter-in-law and say yes without asking further questions. Which goes into how, like you said, this is really a proposal between Mahishmati/Ramya and Anushka; the actual husband (either Prabhas or Rana) is so on the periphery, he doesn’t even matter and so isn’t mentioned. (And this: “it might more accurately be considered a love triangle between Prabhas, Anushka, and Ramya” = YES YES YES. In the flashback sequences, that is where I see the tension, each possible combo of the three characters having their own specific relationships with each other. And again, it’s not even a fight over Prabhas or Rana, really, when it comes to Anushka and Ramya (in the sexist sense of oh, women are always just fighting over men) : you get the feeling that say, if Ramya had demanded that Kuntala give Mahismati tribute or some other arrogant demand, Anushka would have reacted just as badly, no matter what.)
– I hadn’t even realized that the rebel leader is Anushka’s sweet brother! Good catch! (Ha! I knew he seemed way more invested in rescuing Anushka than just some random patriotic dude! And no wonder he noticeably reacts when he sees Prabhas 2, he recognizes his nephew.) That makes me sad, because of how much he has obviously changed and hardened, and also because he dies in the end anyway, but I’m also happy that, even if we didn’t get to see it, Anushka got to reunite with someone, at least, from her past who loves her and cares for her as a person. You get the sense that there’s no one else, really, except maybe Katappa – to everyone else, she’s more of an idea/legend than a human being. The end of the movie might be satisfying for Anushka as having justice served, but she strikes me as likely still being lonely and rather detached from everyone else. (Not just because Prabhas 1 died, but because she has lost her prime years imprisoned and miserable as well as her entire support system.)
– And the other thing about the proposal scene (+ Anushka’s reply) that I really wanted to get into: the sword stuff! So it starts off with Ramya’s final order in the proposal, as I understood it, to marry Rana’s sword in a proxy wedding before she even gets to Mahishmati, and I thought the sheer dismissiveness of this was what really set Anushka off. Plus, it’s also a threat and an overbearing display of Rana/Ramya/Mahismati’s strength. So Anushka’s response is to return her own sword (and in a neat detail, that is why she doesn’t have her sword during the Pindari attack, when we saw her use it so efficiently before! She’s sent it to Ramya and is stuck with only her bow!) and claim that Rana marry it instead and come to Kuntala as a bride instead, symbolically claiming her own strength. There’s also the obvious masculinity reversals/insults- many of Anushka’s insults are specifically designed around comparing Rana to a woman, and there’s a whole other set of feminist criticism you could do with that. But you see here that even if Anushka had would up with Rana, they would never have been happy – it would have always been a contest between them, of who was the truly powerful one (and heck, even in the present day scenes, their relationship is still built on that struggle between them). It’s not Prabhas and Anushka’s lighthearted battle of wits we see earlier in Kuntala, but an angry, hateful, destructive competition.
With Prabhas, the sword imagery comes back with a vengeance in the pre-interval court scene, when Prabhas explicitly compares Anushka to his sword when he warns that he won’t tolerate people laying hands on either (and the two are paired in other scenes too: when Anushka’s in chains, and Prabhas storms into the court, the camera focuses in on her chained hands, and then on Prabhas hand tightening on his sword. Anushka, even in childbed, is the one who hands Prabhas his sword when he goes to save Kattappa. And even with Prabhas 2, he doesn’t get his father’s sword until after he rescues Anushka. Up until then, it stays in Mahishmati in Kattappa’s protection, just as Anushka remains in Mahishmati.) Unlike Rana and Ramya, who want to overwhelm Anushka with their strength, Prabhas comes out and claims her as his symbolic strength. (And that, too, is one of the major themes we see in Hinduism and the movie itself of Shiv-Shakti, or the female goddess being the male god’s true power.)
– See, I agree about Prabhas being more focused on Anushka’s response in that scene than Ramya, as opposed to Kattappa, but not 100% that he’s got the whole picture here. Though it does set up the fact that already, we see that Prabhas is not the sort who is going to go “Ramya, right or wrong” – he is totally fine with Anushka turning down the proposal, even if it does upset Ramya. But I think it’s telling that he isn’t actually present to hear the proposal and Anushka’s response, just Kattappa’s summarized and softened version of it: if he had, I think he would have had a chance to realize just how the conflict between Ramya and Anushka springs from a fundamental difference in their beliefs and values, and he wouldn’t have been so blithely confident that things were going to work out great once he got back to Mahishmati and might have handled their introduction to each other with more care. (Because, let’s be honest, at this point, he’s pretty much thinking, “Well, Ramya’s great, and Anushka’s wonderful, and I love them both, so obviously they will love each other if they only get to know each other!”)
– Ugh, Kajal was so useless in Magadheera. I don’t even know why they set the archery up if she was just going to stand there in the final battle – I mean, I know Ram Charan had to kill 100 warriors or whatever, but she could have picked off a few without making it any less impressive, particularly considering the fight was over her life! And then she winds up dead anyway, so she could have at least gone out fighting instead of standing there ready to be stabbed or shot or whatever happens to her.
-Yes, that scene with the cowherds is why I don’t have much of a problem with the caste elements of it. The sense of everyone chipping in to protect their home, with whatever skill set they have, seems way more realistic to me than expecting everyone to be a super-awesome warrior. Even say, the queen and the other women who need to be protected by Subbaraju – yeah, they are not fighting, but their skill set is more in ruling in peacetime than waging war, and that’s all right. But that does mean that other people, who are trained to fight, need to step up and protect them in exchange for what the other people bring to the table in peacetime.
– Just an aside about Subbaraju: I always thought it was really sweet that what motivated him to finally use the skills he’d been trained for wasn’t impressing Anushka, in the end, but protecting his sister. He has his own little character arc here, not just the random comic relief you see in other movies. And that’s the other fact about Prabhas 1 that makes his death more tragic – he is the kind of person who makes other people better, just by his belief in them and their abilities. It’s hard to pull that off without being over-the-top and sappy, but it worked for me here.
– Yes, that is what I love about the hallway scene – Anushka is legitimately outnumbered, as anyone would be, but even before Prabhas shows up, makes a decent showing instead of running and hiding. I’ve already mentioned how matter-of-fact him showing her the trick with the arrows is, and the fact that he knows she’ll master it on the first try. And even in the rest of the battle, they are perfectly in sync! Taking turns spinning before they shoot (OK, on my first watch, it looked a bit stupid but then I realized they had just had three people sneak up behind them and were supposed to be checking that there weren’t more) and they don’t even have to exchange a word before they shoot together and Anushka has to strings her arrows on the other side to make it work. We never see Prabhas fight this way with anyone, except maybe Kattappa who he’s known his whole life, and even then they’re calling back and forth for weapons and we see some degree of communication/coordination necessary. I never thought I’d find a scene where like, 60 people die romantic, but this one legitimately is. (And I think it’s important, too, that this absolute proof of their wordless communication and unity comes before the scene on the wall, which is why Anushka reacts so so badly to the realization that they’re maybe not as much in sync as she thought they were. She literally sets him on fire, just because he won’t tell her who he is the second time she asks – it seems a tad disproportionate!)
Oops, I think I rambled on about some of those Mahishmati scenes already. Oh well, next time!
LikeLike
-Essentially, Ramya is demanding tribute from Kuntala! That proposal has nothing about what Anushka’s life would be like in Mahishmati, why Rana wants to marry her, it’s just “give us your princess and we will give you gold”.
-I agree with you that Anushka has become so much more a legend than a person. And I wonder if her brother did that on purpose, developed her legend. Not that she wasn’t already legendary, we saw how she rescued those people and they immediately started calling her a “goddess”, I am sure that was just one of many incidents while she was princess that made the people love her. But as the years went by, it would have been easy for her brother to grow that legend, both to give hope to the poor people of the kingdom who needed something to cling to, and to convince others to join his crusade to save his sister. I also think there must have been many close calls over the past 25 years, messages they managed to pass along to her, maybe glimpses her brother had of her while hiding in the crowd. At least I hope there were, that she wasn’t just lonely and in chains with no hope at all.
-Oh, that is fascinating! The sword was such a powerful symbol in the first movie, of kingship. I completely missed that in this one they expand that, make it identity and pride and Dharma and everything else. And Anushka, because she is also identity and pride and Dharma and so on.
-Good point, like we were saying, it’s not just that Anushka turns down a proposal because she wants Prabhas, or because she would rather have a man who comes himself instead of sending a messenger (the message Prabhas was getting), but that the exact phrasing of the proposal was insulting.
-There were so many things that felt like unfinished thoughts in Magadheera. I wonder if this romance that we see here is the finished version. A princess who wants to learn to shoot arrows and use weapons, and falls in love with the man who helps her to do it.
-Exactly! It’s a caste system without a real hierarchy to it, more caste as professional boundaries than anything else.
-Yes! Just like he surprised Prabhas with his strength when Prabhas was striding across the yard in war-mode, trying to get to Anushka’s chambers. He’s a bit of a blowhard, but he’s a good guy, and so he will step up and do the right thing when there is absolutely no other choice. The other part of it is that Prabhas is more trusting than Rana. He delegates, for lack of a better word. Something neither Ramya nor Rana are able to do, to recognize somebody else’s talents and give them a chance to use them.
-About the setting him on fire, you could also see that as a sign of how in synch they are. That she knows he is strong enough to survive a little thing like being set on fire, because she has fought next to him.
LikeLike
A friend pointed out annontwresting tidbit during the archery scene – that Anushka sees Prabhas1 and instinctively realises that he is the better archer, which is why she was able to so openly receive the lesson he imparted on how to string 3 arrows together. It shows her lack of ego when it comes to learning – she has no airs about herself. She is simply who she is.
LikeLike
Yes! Going back to the last section, I feel like that was her attitude at the boar hunt as well. She wasn’t upset that she was being outshot, just confused because she knows it couldn’t have been Subbaraju doing it. But she didn’t mind losing just because it was losing.
On Sun, May 7, 2017 at 9:13 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Yes. That is true. She seems to have made up her mind about who Prabhas1 really was when she felt the touch of his Khsatriya hands and everything after that seems to be her way of reconfirming that idea 🙂
LikeLike
Nice analysis! Although I never got the impression that Bhalla fell in love or even lust with Devasena. I think he saw a perfect opportunity to use her as a pawn to gain the throne and used it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It may not be love or lust, but there is definitely a reaction when he sees her picture that is separate from just hearing about her. If you read the comments on the last part, we toss around the idea that it is jealousy of Prabhas and excitement over finally seeing something that he actually wants. But there is something there.
LikeLike
By the way, thank you for this site. I am in love with it! And, sorry about my atrocious spellings and grammar earlier – I had to type stuff out on the browser and the format there doesn’t help. The app is way better.
LikeLike
You are welcome! And thank you for commenting. If you want to be really nice to me, try to re-tweet and re-post me as well, I write so much I don’t have time to promote myself, but I always want new readers! 🙂
On Sun, May 7, 2017 at 9:30 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Done!
LikeLike
Small correction in spelling….Its is not Ksha’s’triya. It is kshatriya! There should be no ‘s’ before ‘t’.
Originally Kshatriya is not a caste but ‘varna’. Krishna explains to Arjuna that people are classified into four varnas – gurus, warriors (kshatriya), merchants and servant class – based on their guna (nature) and karma. Your analysis is very correct to the extent that it is a lifetime learning of respective skill set and lifetime commitment to use that particular skill set (sticking to one’s dharma based on his position in society).
Unfortunately in later ages many castes and subcastes propped up causing caste discrimination and opposition to inter caste marriages. You can find thousands of Indian movies with stories where people fighting this discrimination and opposition.
Well Bahubali 2 subtly explains the dharma of kshatriya varna.
A little background info …. Rajamouli and his family members who are part of the movie’s team and Prabhas belong to kshatriya varna. But I presume they don’t wish that India should go back to the ‘glorious’ days of caste structure. Certainly I don’t advocate that.
LikeLike
Thanks for the spelling tip! I will try to remember that, although I make no promises!
And thanks for confirming that my understanding was correct about the origins of the caste system. It’s similar to any feudal society, there were only limited requirements in society, and the training to fulfill those roles took a whole lifetime. So you would need to know from birth which one you were to be trained for. And whichever it was, you would have an obligation to use those skills for the betterment of society.
Although this version seems slightly more flexible. As Kshatriya, they have an obligation to serve the people with their fighting skills. But sometimes the agricultural classes participate in fighting when they are needed, and later we will see Prabhas join a working community and use his building and engineering skill.
On Mon, May 8, 2017 at 12:59 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Also, “varna” is “classification” not “class” in terms of the caste system. The caste system was originally a system of classification. Like brahmins and kshatriyas were “church and state”. The vaishyas were the corporates and the shudras were the working class. The fifth varna was given to the unproductive members of society. (sidenote: the roma/gypsies of Europe are actually descendants/relatives of the Indian Dalit community aka the fifth varna!) The fifth varna, in the original sense, probably comprised of drunks, lechers, social security frauds, moochers, outlaws, etc.
Originally, anybody could be a clergyman and anyone could be a soldier, businessman, working class person or town drunk. But I guess somewhere along the way someone decided caste should be decided by DNA. Although modern society is back to the original meaning of the system and ancestral caste status does not affect the profession one takes up and the treatment people receive is largely based on their profession.
LikeLike
This is reminding me of a post I did weeks ago on nepotism in the film industry. How it is related to people being born and brought up within a certain profession, which naturally leads them to join that profession. But it is not based on DNA, ultimately, because outsiders can still join it. It is just easier to take up a profession to which you were born.
LikeLike
Pingback: Bahubali 2 Part 7 Scene By Scene (SPOILERS): Things Start To Go Terribly Wrong – dontcallitbollywood
Remember there’s a scene between Anushka rejecting the proposal and Kattappa telling Prabhas about the proposal where Subbaraju is informed that there might be something going on between Prabhas and Anushka. Also Subbaraju specifically asks him about his walk when he sees Prabhas walking towards him before the battle.
LikeLike
I have no memory of that scene! the one with Subbaraju. Something to look for on the next watch.
On Mon, May 8, 2017 at 9:03 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Here’s what I remember of it:
Subbaraju is like “Anushka likes me, that’s why she rejected that proposal”
Then an guard is like “I heard from the servants that there is something going on between Anushka and Prabhas”
Subbaraju says something about Prabhas being too stupid.
Then we see Subbaraju storming out in that courtyard where he meets Prabhas.
LikeLike
okay, it’s beginning to come back to me now.
Watch 3 tomorrow night, I should be able to recite the whole script soon.
On Mon, May 8, 2017 at 9:09 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
First of all thank you for this amazing blog I am really reliving the moments of Bahubali 2. I’m really amazed the way u are explaining every small which I’ve already imagined and some were unimaginable like your reference to magadheera heroine and all. Most importantly I’m shocked in surprise how even people from north are going gaga for this film even I’m not from Telugu but Tamil. Looking forward for the wonderful discussions further like the great chemistry,rivalry between Sivakami and devasena its gonna be awesome thanks a lot
LikeLike
So glad you are enjoying it! Usually when I do these posts, my readers run out of interest pretty quickly, I am glad that so many of you are sticking around and commenting.
LikeLike
I watched it in hindi and the proposal scenes gist is this
Sivagami sends Rana’s sword and all kind of gifts with the proposal. Devasena is supposed to be married to Rana’s sword.
Devasena rejects the proposal and send her sword back to sivagami. Her counter proposal is “Marry your son to my sword and send him to kunthala.”
Usually when a girl marries in hindu tradition, she’s supposed to go to her in-law’s house to live for the rest of her life. But if a boy goes to his wife’s house to live, it’s called “Ghar Jamai” and it is considered as a insult to the boy’s family. It may happen only if the boy’s family is a weak one.
Great work, Keep it up.
LikeLike
Thank you! Both for the encouragement, and for the information.
LikeLike
Pingback: Bahubali Posts Index – dontcallitbollywood