The Rajmata and the Last Guardian of an oath
My meta entry for @teambaahubali‘s Summer Challenge! Week 1: Parichay.
At first glance, Sivagami and Kattappa are very different characters, yet I find them strangely similar at several points, mainly because both Sivagami and Kattappa are fiercely devoted to the throne of Mahishmati, each in their own way. I feel that their entry scenes encapsulate that beautifully, both the one in the present timeline, as well as the flashback.
The movie opens with Sivagami staggering in, and there is a sense of pathos in that scene. It is obvious when you look closely that she is a woman of influence, for, in those times, only such women would have dressed so. Her posture itself seems imperious, commanding.
She has a baby in her arms, and is sorely wounded because of an arrow, yet she soldiers on. Her defining character moment is her perseverance here. She would fight fate to accomplish what she wishes to, it is evident in the scene. It is made even clearer that Sivagami is a daring fighter when the soldiers attack her. Her response shows that she is quite sharp, and can anticipate events before they occur. Here, I did wonder: what caused her to be unaware enough to be backstabbed? That niggling suspicion remained throughout the movie for me, at least, until she believed that Bhalla would indeed be content with a palace. That was the moment of realization for me, that Bhalla was her blind spot. But, hey, I diverged from the point of interest.
Once she defeats the soldiers, she falls into water. Even though she is unable to swim, she fights with all her might against the current. Here, she also makes quite an impressive monologue addressed to the Gods. She says that she has sinned, but that her life should be enough to atone for it. That Mahendra Baahubali must live at any cost. For the Kingdom that awaited him. For his mother. From this, it is evident that Sivagami is a royal woman and there has been treason of some sort that she holds herself guilty for. What it was, is a matter that is unearthed later.
Sivagami defies everything that works against her to the end, she manages to keep Mahendra afloat even as the life is draining out of her. I got the impression that she is a very formidable woman in this sequence.
Sivagami also has another entry scene in the same movie. This one is not of a Sivagami bowed down by guilt, this is her coming into her element.
The scene opens with rebels planning a coup, refusing to “follow a woman.” Sivagami glides in (power-walks in, more like) baby in hand. The alacrity with which people obey her shows that she is a woman who commands respect. She asks the loyalists to stand by her side, unflinching. Some few people go to her side, and the rebel leader orders her and her son killed. The man who got the order kills the conspirators instead, then salutes Sivagami, hand over his heart. The rebel leader tries to kill Sivagami and her son, and Sivagami is quick on the defense, ably taking control of the situation. Whoa. Woman power! She demonstrates here that she has a fine grasp of politics, a fine and subtle way of controlling any situation.
She also displays an innate sense of fairness when she states that the throne belongs to the better of “her sons”, I could see shades of Kunti and Gandhari in her, the way she accepted Baahu as her son, and the sense of righteousness that gave him equal rights. She handles an irate Bijjala with ease, seriously, I love the way she puts him down.
And then that iconic Sivagami line “En sol en kattalai, en kattalaiye saasanam.”
Translated: “My word is my law, my law an ordiance.” That one line speaks so much about her. Her confidence, her self-assurance, everything is clear in that line. Overall, a mass entrance!
Kattappa’s entrance, on the other hand, as badass as it is, has a sense of servility in it. He enters when the bull has almost gored Bhalla, putting himself in harm’s way for his King. He gets injured for his pains, and Bhalla commends him for his loyalty in a typical Bhalla way. He says “Dog, you want to kill me, and yet you save my life.” Here, there is a hint at a backstory. Kattappa has a reason to kill Bhalla and yet is honoring his oath to him. When Bhalla gives Kattappa a boon, he asks Bhalla to “free the mother from her pain of the last 25 years”. So I get the feeling that Kattappa is close to whoever “the mother” is. Who ends up being Devasena, Mahendra Baahubali’s mother. I get the feeling that Kattappa wants to free her, but is unable to, because of his oath. So, at this juncture, this entrance, there is the same sense of pathos surrounding Kattappa that surrounded Sivagami when she staggered on screen.
Kattappa too, has a second entry scene. A scene that happens almost simultaneously to Sivagami’s. When she calls out “Kattappa!” in that hall full of rebels, Kattappa vaults into their presence. He’s a formidable warrior, and seems fiercely devoted to Sivagami, but here, too, that sense of pathos is largely absent. This is a Kattappa proud of the person he serves, a Kattappa helping righteousness on its way, not a Kattappa bowed down by grief, but one coming into his element.
I find Sivagami and Kattappa to be interesting personality foils. Sivagami is always in control of herself, someone who has a very strong personality, who is sure of herself and her authority. Kattappa, as respected as he might be (he does seem to command a certain amount of respect), as strong a warrior he might be, is always bowed down in servility, bound to the oath of his ancestors, and nothing illustrates that better than their entry scenes, which form their parichay for the moments to come.
That’s it for my meta, I hope it’s okay for the event!
@chaanv, thanks a lot, Surbhi di, for teaching me to make GIF’s!
Tagging @teambaahubali @teammahishmati
