Bahubali A Perspective- Maa Nishadha #wattys2017

Maa Nishadha

I was thinking while analyzing Beyhadh couple of days back why this line came to my mind. When I watched Bahubali today I understood why it came. I had gone to watch Bahubali with the idea that when I write the perspective I will be comparing it to Mahabharatha. Because from the first part it looked more correct from MB perspective.

But when I watched Bahubali the conclusion the first thing that caught my attention my Amarendra Bahubali watching two birds romancing and telling Katappa what a beautiful sight. In his mind at that time was the love he was feeling for Devasena the princess of Kundala kingdom and also the knowledge she too was feeling same about him. Seeing those birds he sees the pure feeling of love, pure feeling of union but what does Katappa say. Yes it is beautiful, we need to take them , fry them, put masala and eat them. Here you go. The fulcrum of the story is that.

Amarendra Bahubali and Devasena represented the power of love , its beauty, its divinity and Kattappa represented the society who never liked the true union of souls and always destroyed the love with its rules, with its hypocrisy and its so called dharma and vachanpalan. Dharma and Vachanpalan good as long as its suits the society, it suits its hypocrisy, but if it is applied in the right sense exposing its hypocrisy well the criminal becomes victim and the victim criminal.

Yes the first sloka of Ramayana was Maa Nishadha which Valmiki has recited seeing a hunter hunting down the mating bird. Yes the society came in between the divine love of Ram and Sita forcing Ram to sacrifice his beloved Janaki because they believed she was not pure enough to be a queen. A society then didn't realize the Mahalakshmi standing in front of them. A society today also doesn't realize the Mahalakshmi in front of them, ends up making her a Durga.

When Shivgami walked carrying the vessel of fire on her head a custom which they tell the daughter in law of Mahismati has to do to kill the demon, I knew what the last scene would be. Devasena will burn the man, who burned her life.

The story was that, the love of Amarendra Bahubali and Devasena standing the test of time. Passing the test of fire. But for analysis I would like to use Shivgami as the centre point. Because the story starts from her and ends with her. It is her battle, in a sense. A battle where her ideals are questioned because she makes the choices as a woman and not as a mother. Yes Shivgami is a woman whose choices superside the mother role. She was queen mother who always kept the benefit of Mahismathi before herself. All her decisions, judgement are for Mahismathi. She is not just the mother of Bhalla Deva but mother of Mahismathi and Shivgami makes every effort to live upto this role.

Her relation with Amarendra Bahubali is pure, divine. She knows he is the one who will practice her ideals, who will protect Mahismathi.

But then when has society allowed a woman to take charge, when has society allowed her to make her decisions. She is supposed to perform the roles daughter, wife, mother. If she doesn't then the society will harp her. Same happens with Shivgami. The constant chanting she is not doing right to her son Bhalla Deva makes her fall to her son's trap and give him the word that she will bring the princess of Kundala Desa Devasena as his bride. It was a mother's promise to the son.

What happens is that, in front of the world Devasena and Amarendra make her fail on that promise. Publicly in front of her son, she fails as a mother. Shivgami the woman knows what Devasena tells is true. A princess has the right to chose her husband. Shivgami knows what Bahubali did is right. She knows. The Rajmatha of Mahismathi knows, but she is overpowered by mother of Bhalla Deva who has failed him.

Bhalla Deva comes as a man who has given away kingdom for his brother, while Amarendra Bahubali comes as a man who cannot leave the woman he loves to his brother in front of Shivgami. Criminal become victim and victim becomes criminal.