Baahubali 3 - the ultimate conclusion Rajamouli should have shown
While the Baahubali series has disrupted the age-old box-office success formula of festival release and star power, I wish I was appearing for the Board exam and had to write an essay on "what if I was (director) SS Rajamouli?"
I believe the second part of the series, Baahubali: The Conclusion, shouldn't have ended with Mahendra Baahubali killing Bhallaladeva, but with Bhallaladeva recapturing Devasena. It should have been the beginning of the conclusion, and not the conclusion!
The third part, from a fan's heart
As Bhallaladeva has recaptured Devasena and fortified and safeguarded his kingdom with his huge army and mammoth walls, Mahendra now thinks of a plan to rescue Devasena, waging war against Bhallaladeva!
Baahubali builds his army with Kattappa, Shiva's Tribe, Aslam (The warrior from Afghan (Ref. Part 1) who promised Kattappa to extend his help whenever Kattappa wanted), Kuntal Kingdom's Army, his lady love Avanthika and last but not the least - #Asankhya Praja of Maahismati.
So now, the historic war of Maahismati breaks out between:
Bhallaladeva (Maahismati ruler) and already defeated Kalkei's army with whom Bhallaladeva joins hands, promising their leader a prominent position in the army.
VERSUS
The allied forces of Baahubali.
Army features
Bhallaladeva
30,000 war soldiers (10,000 of them specially trained to shield the first row)
6,000 highly skilled swordsmen
5,000 javelin warriors trained to throw up to a distance of more than 150 metres
7,500 Kalkei demons' army (half armed with double-edged axes and half with mace)
3,500 war archers with excellent horse-riding skills
1,500 war elephants with warriors
1,000 war dogs
850 wild war cats
350 war leopards
125 caged lions
1,100 special army of Bhallaladeva about whom nobody in the kingdom knows, their training is carried out underground, the army is unleashed only in extreme circumstances.
Although not sure, it's only Kattappa who has an idea of this underground army as he couldn't tally the usage of resources during normal training in the Maahismati reign.
(Kattappa takes up the responsibility of eliminating this special army while the war breaks out. Kattappa takes a battalion of 350 soldiers and proceeds to eliminate the underground army. A fierce battle breaks out within the secret tunnels of Maahismati kingdom.)
Baahubali's army
2,500 tribesmen of his tribe, skilled in archery
5,500 trained warriors from the Kuntal kingdom
18000 villagers who take the responsibility of fighting the animals. While Bhallaladeva's army release leopards and lions, they release enormous rabbits by applying poison on their bodies. The lions and leopards die at the very instance they bite and kill the rabbits.
250 war elephants
Artillery and state-of-the-art siege weapons supplied by Aslam
500 war horsemen
Avanthika
Kattappa and
Mahendra Baahubali
Avanthika - who just like other citizens of Kuntal kingdom has been raised with only one aim - rescue Devasena and take revenge for atrocities faced by her during all these years - now has a vital role.
It is she who leads the artillery and siege weapons supplied by Aslam and brings down the tall walls of Maahismati. The mystery of her fierceness is explained as she has lost her entire family in the rescue mission. She furiously fights in the battlefield, killing hundreds of armed soldiers with her war skills.
Kattappa dies being choked up with the one strong hand of Bijjaladev (Bhallaladeva's father) while Bijjaladev treacherously drags Kattappa into a fight post sunset (no-war time zone).
Furious with the news, Avanthika leads the army of rebels and rages ruthlessly into the war-camp of Bijjaladev while he is celebrating the death of Kattappa. She cuts him off after sunset, taking a poetic revenge on Kattappa's death.
The ultimate war ends on the 13th day, which is also the day of the "Rakshas-Dahan Utsav" that comes after 26 years, with Bhallaladeva being burnt alive (on the pyre readied by Devasena) post one-on-one combat with Mahendra Baahubali.
The ultimate conclusion!