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Cast (Voice Over): Sharad Kelkar, Manoj Pande, Rajesh Khatar, Mausam, Deepak Sinha, Samay Thakkar & others
Creator: Sharad Devarajan, SS Rajamouli
Director: Jeevan J. Kang
Streaming On: Disney+ Hotstar
Language: Hindi (Original), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali, Kannada
Runtime: 9 episodes/20 minutes each
Baahubali: Crown of Blood Review: What’s It About:
Remember the school days of your life? The month-long summer vacation was loaded with Holiday homework for each subject. But you, being you (in case you were not the diligent sort), completed that Holiday homework just a day before submission in a hurried manner. It was probably not the best of your work, but it was doable and manageable.
And this hurried and lazy attempt often used to work, and you have had a good reputation at school. So, this story might be the ‘behind-the-scene‘ premise for the making of Baahubali: Crown Of Blood – the animation series created by SS Rajamouli.
Helmed by Jeevan J Kang and written by a bunch of people, this is a very familiar world, and full points to SS Rajamouli and Sharad Devarajan for utilizing the brand that is Baahubali and not letting it get blurred or diminish over a period of time. But Baahubali as a brand and Baahubali as a franchise are two distinct concepts, and this web series is more of a brand-driven concept. But does it work in Rajamouli’s favor? Let us find out in this review.
Baahubali: Crown of Blood Review: Script Analysis:
Baahubali: Crown of Blood offers a fresh chapter in the history of Mahishmati. This is a standalone tale with little to no connection from the two massive Baahubali films that changed the course of Indian Cinema and how it was perceived globally. There is a fresh enemy and fresh backstories as well on the old palette of planning, plotting, hustling to be the best kingdom in the world, and the power struggle for the throne of Mahishmati.
Because of this, the web series works in part to bring a new development from the old tales of Mahishmati. But is it enough for a 9-episode long web series whose target audiences are primarily kids aged 5 – 10? For starters, for kids that age, that is way too low-quality animation.
The kids of a world who are Disney fans are growing up watching Avenger superheroes. For them, Baahubali: Crown of Blood is way too underwhelming. However, the story, which is simplistic from a kid’s point of view, still offers an apt intrigue to keep an adult like me glued, which deserves mention.
Baahubali: Crown of Blood Review: Star Performance:
The star of this web series is definitely the story when you put it to the standards of an animated film. Or let us put it this way: the star of this web series might have been the idea of bringing tales from Mahishmati and making a whole world around that tale. If this idea had been executed properly, it could have been the next Tenaliraman or Akbar Birbal. But the idea of an animated Baahubali story probably works better on paper. As such, there is no star in this web series, apart from the idea of another story from Mahishmati, which definitely gives that kick and excitement to watch it!
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Baahubali: Crown of Blood Review: What Works
If Disney has set up this mini-series as a tester or sampler, then I am definitely in for a web series like Tales from Mahishmati or Adventures of Baahubali and Bhallaladeva that could be such a vast and interesting world to take this brand along. The idea, definitely works. Even Baahubali: Crown of Blood could have worked in such a better way if a little could have been spent on the animation.
Baahubali: Crown of Blood Review: What Doesn’t Work
The animation in this series takes us 30 years back. It is what a 90s kid would have enjoyed, or probably the early 2000s as well. It is Ducktales, Chhota Bheem, Doraemon, and Shin Chan kind-a-world, which the kids might or might not enjoy. (They have definitely seen better, but you just never know with kids and their mood swings). Even on the storytelling level, it could have been an upgrade, taking major inspiration from The Legend Of Hanuman, another animated web series brilliantly conceptualized and delivered.
In a nine-part episodic series, the grand team of Baahubali: Crown of Blood could not deliver a single hook line that stays with the kids and becomes a synonym for the web series. Right from Shin Chan’s Hindi song to Okey Dokey Doraemon or too many that I might not know. Even Shaktimaan in the 90s could come up with Sorry Shaktimaan. A short and simple song/catchphrase, something could have been projected this web series better. Just like Baahubali came up with ‘Katappa ne Baahubali ko kyun maara?’
The sketches in this animation are ironically way apart from the actual characters in the film. Only Bhallaldeva and Bijjaladeva resemble their closest self. In fact, Baahubali in this series is very different from what Prabhas looks like. That probably works the best in favor of the star since he would love to associate with the franchise and not the brand.
Baahubali: Crown of Blood Review: Last Words:
Commercialization of a hit franchise and turning it into a brand could be a very interesting and successful attempt, but we guess it needs the right budget, time, an interested team, and definitely the right animators. Till then, no more lazy summer holiday assignments, please!
2.5 stars.
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