#bijjaladeva

I'm back with more brotherly shenanigans. This time, it's Vikramadeva and big bro Bijjaladeva. The latter is just as bad as Bhallaladeva. Well, like father, like son.

Enjoy, guys!

Bitter and Barren, Broken and Burnt

Some sons are not meant for kingship,

Some fathers are not meant for love,

Some husbands are not meant for a lifetime.

Hunger... Hunger... Too hot to soothe,

Too cold for comfort,

And too proud for empathy.

Peace never becomes them...

Not when the goblet remains full,

And the soul remains empty.

-- An ode to Bijjaladeva, the man who lived and not

@teambaahubali @teammahishmati

Meta: Bijjaladeva Throughout the years.

For: @mayavanavihariniharini @bleedinknight @ratnas-musings and @medhasree

More of my long-winded metas for you! :D

For the @teambaahubali Summertime Challenge.

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When we catch the first glimpse of the maimed Bijjaladeva, we see a man past the prime of his life. Grey (-read, milky white) hair and moustache, and prominent wrinkles count the age of Bhallaladeva’s father somewhere in his late-seventies, or early-eighties, when he cheers his son during his bullfight.

The same Bijjaladeva (Nassar) is shown prominently for a second time when Kattappa begins telling the younger Baahubali the story of his origins. But, this time, in a flashback, we see dark-haired Bijjala fuming in frustration over the loss of the Maahishmati crown to his younger brother, Vikramdeva, Amarendra Baahubali’s father (from what the viewer sees in the portrait, supersenior Baahubali is also portrayed by Prabhas).

Somewhere, -cinematic liberties, and the actor’s actual age aside- the viewer places these two Princes at a considerable age-difference of almost five years from each other. So, from the viewer’s standpoint, Bijjaladeva might have been somewhere around thirty years, while Vikramdeva might be twenty-five, at this juncture of the narrative, where the viewer is taken at least fifty years prior to the point where Mahendra Baahubali aka Shivudu meets Kattappa.

Cut to the scene, where Sivagami, Bijjala’s wife officially assumes the mantle of regent, and mother to the two babies, Bhalla, and the orphaned Amarendra. We can also safely assume that Vikramdeva might not have had a very long reign. Or, in other words, he might have died within the year he took the throne. We see Bijjala once again, this time, urging his wife to consider their baby for the position of King. Since we assume it to be a very tight frame, Bijjala might yet have been in his early thirties when this happened.

The next time we see him is again, after a time leap of twenty-five years. Both the Princes have grown up to be extremely handsome young men, and their father, has now acquired a few grey hairs. Note that, we have yet come to the milky haired Bijjala. This particular time frame continues till a considerable portion of Baahubali: The Beginning, and the entire first half of Baahubali: The Conclusion. This, is once again, a very short, tight time frame lasting hardly a year. So this time, we can assume Bijjaladeva to be in his mid-fifties (fifty-five to fifty-six, to be precise), while the entire course of events from Baahubali’s prospective coronation by winning against the Kalakeyas, to his demotion to General and Bhallaladeva’s subsequent coronation, to his exile, to his eventual death and Mahendra’s birth, and Devasena’s imprisonment, takes place. (Phew! SO MUCH FOR A YEAR!)

After another time leap of twenty-five years, comes the milky moustached Bijjaladeva. This Bijjaladeva, arithmetically, has to be in his early eighties, that is, when Mahendra Baahubali comes to claim his throne from the usurper Bhallaladeva. Now, even as we see Mahendra being coronated as King, we see a tremulous, and hesitant Bijjala, holding the plate as Devasena takes the Maahishmati crown to officially proclaim her son as King.

Meta: DVD Commentary on The Man Who Was Never King

For @mayavanavihariniharini​, @bleedinknight​, and @ratnas-musings​ for their never-ceasing encouragement.

Ah! A ficlet on Bijju! Who would have thought! 

But yeah, of all people I choose that guy for a fic, and yeah he’s nasty there as well. Particularly, if Bijju would not have been there, we’d all have one less character to hate in Baahubali, apart from the disgusting Sethupathy, and of course, the Tyrant Extraordinaire, Bhallaladeva. (I love you, Rana, I really DO! *cries*)

But he has a heart too! A heart that might have loved his son, and his grandson. Conniving and scheming, and utterly disgusting he might be, (ugh, WTF was “Inn nanhi kilkaariyon taa gala ghont do, Sivagami!” and then “Maar do, Sivagami!” (or something to that effect- I watched the films in Hindi, so yeah, relatively better but not the original, yet okay-ish dubbing), but he kind of did all that for Bhalla, who might or might not have adored his Daddy in the same degree.