Baahubali 2”Is Now Showing Stateside, ‘Baahubali 2’An Board Governance and Specialized Equal Parts “Game of Thrones,” Employment Issues

CHICAGOLAWBULLETIN.COM FRIDAY, MAY 19, 2017

Volume 163, No. 98 Serving Chicago’s legal community for 162 years

strong roles for the two women stars, one of the themes of the The gigantic summer film is that the dignity of women must be acknowledged and re- spected. blockbuster you probably Operatic in its family drama, RE B E C CA exhilarating in its exquisitely L. FORD choreographed combat and loaded h av e n’t heard of —ye t with enough mind-blowing special effects to give a galaxy full of Rebecca L. Ford is counsel at Scharf meteorites and space aliens a run Banks Marmor LLC, and concentrates her practice on complex litigation, compliance, for their money, “Baahubali 2”is Now showing stateside, ‘Baahubali 2’an board governance and specialized equal parts “Game of Thrones,” employment issues. She is the former “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” awe-inspiring piece of Tollywood cinema executive vice president for litigation and and “The Lion King.” intellectual property at MGM. She can be In the same way that DC and reached at [email protected]. Marvel have used comic super- o, you think of yourself originating from the south of In- heroes as the foundation for major as a citizen of the world. dia, is known as “To l l y w o o d ”—as raised together as brothers. They U.S. action franchises, writer-di- If you want the other opposed to Hindi-speaking “B o l - live in the walled kingdom of rector S.S. Rajamouli drew from guests at the dinner par- l y w o o d ”more familiar to Amer- Mahishmati, where barbarians the one of India’s largest-selling ty to think so, too, you ican audiences. and wild animals lurk on the fron- comic series Amar Chitra Katha Sbetter have at least some idea of The movie has all the mayhem, tier. Each is deeply devoted to the rich with Indian history, mythol- what the 7.3 billion non-U.S. blood and combustion of Amer- formidable Queen Mother Sivaga- ogy and folklore as his source ma- denizens of the planet are watch- ican blockbusters, plus the cliff- mi (Ramya Krishnan). She must terial for the Baahubali series. ing at the movies. hanging suspense of old-fashioned choose one of them to become Admittedly, at three hours, Your timing is perfect. Saturday movie matinees. king. Things go awry when both “Baahubali 2: The Conclusion”is a “Baahubali 2: The Conclusion,”the Before “Baahubali 2,”of course, men want to wed the same long haul. But it is time well-spent biggest-budget, highest-grossing there was a “B a a h u b a l i ,”and princess, Devasena (Anushka with a dashing hero, uplifting Indian film ever made, is currently there are enough flashbacks and S h e t t y ) . moral and rousing music. playing at a cinema near you. There is a theory in Hollywood It is at once comfortably fa- that audiences love original sto- miliar and exotically different. The movie has all the mayhem, blood and rytelling so long as it’s the kind of Baahubali means “the one with story we’ve heard before and a strong arms;”and, in portraying combustion of American blockbusters, story that we want to tell our- the beneficent Herculean warrior, plus the cliff-hanging suspense of s e l v e s . Telugu-speaking cinematic heart- So it should be no surprise that throb Prabhas is as acrobatic as old-fashioned Saturday movie matinees. what is most compelling about Errol Flynn, as flirtatious as Billy “Baahubali 2,”is its ancient and Dee Williams and as ripped as expository explanations that no The fiery princess provides universal theme of love, loyalty Arnold Schwarzenegger —a fu- one is left behind. some major plot twists when she and leadership. That it is thrilling- sion of John Henry, King Arthur This dynastic Cain-versus-Abel makes clear she won’t be taking ly told as a 21st century style en- and Ben-Hur but with really fab- fantasy is biblical in scope. Amaren- any guff from mom (proving once tertainment is a bonus. ulous hair. dra Baahubali and his cousin Bhal- again that all men are destined to Now there’s a topic for your The Telugu movie industry, laladeva (Rana Daggubati) a re marry their mothers). With dinner party.