Rajamouli has been described by film trade analyst Komal Nahta as "the biggest Indian film director ever".[7]Rachel Dwyer, professor of Indian Cultures and Cinema at SOAS, called him "India's most significant director today".[8] He has directed twelve feature films so far, and all of them have been successful at the box office.[7][9] Three of his films—Baahubali: The Beginning (2015), Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017), and RRR (2022)—are among the top ten highest grossing-films in India to date. All three films were also the most expensive Indian films ever made at the time of their release. Baahubali 2 is currently the highest grossing film in India, and sold over 10 crore (100million) tickets during its box office run; the highest estimated admissions for any film in India since Sholay (1975).[10][11]
Rajamouli's films are typically characterized by their epic grandeur, stylized action sequences, unbridled heroism and larger-than-life characters with historical and mythological references. His films have been noted for their integration of CGI with practical effects. With his Baahubali films, he has pioneered the pan-Indian film movement.[14] He is also credited for expanding the market of Telugu cinema and South Indian cinema into North India and international markets.[15]
Rajamouli's mother belonged to Kapu caste and his father is a Kamma.[23][24] His parents met in Vizag and later had an inter-caste love marriage. Vijayendra Prasad is opposed to the caste system and dropped the initial 'K' from his name, as he felt it was an indicator of his caste.[25][23]
Rajamouli's parents are ardent devotees of Lord Shiva. He was born after his mother had a dream when she visited the pilgrimage site of Srisailam. Hence, he was named Srisaila Sri Rajamouli.[26] He has one elder sister who now lives in Australia.[27][28] Rajamouli grew up in a joint family — his father and his five brothers lived in the same house with their families.[29][30][31] Prasad's family had lands in Kovvur, which were lost when the railways lines were laid through them.[32] Then, Prasad and his family moved to Karnataka from Kovvur in 1968. Prasad, along with his elder brother K. V. Sivashankar, bought seven acres of paddy fields in Hirekotikal village near Manvi in Raichur district. Their family moved back to Kovvur in 1977.[33][34]
Rajamouli was educated in Kovvur till fourth standard and then shifted to Eluru where he studied till Intermediate first year. He then took a break of two years and finished his Intermediate second year in Kovvur. After that, he did not pursue any further formal education.[35]
Rajamouli was passionate about storytelling right from his second standard.[36] When he was seven years old, his grandmother introduced him to the epicsRamayana, Mahabharata, and Bhagavata.[29] At the same age, his father introduced him to Amar Chitra Katha comics that featured stories on Indian historical figures, religious legends and folktales. It had a huge impact on him and developed his penchant for larger-than-life characters.[37][29] He would remember those stories and the films he watched and then re-tell them to his friends in his own way.[37][36][26] His mother was keen on him learning English and would take him to watch English-language films in the nearby towns. She encouraged him to read comics and storybooks in his free time and never pressured him in academics.[29][38] His father recollecting about Rajamouli's childhood noted, "he was not an ambitious child. For a long time, we did not know what interested him. He showed some inclination towards films. He played the role of young Krishna in a film I directed."[39]
Rajamouli's paternal grandfather was a wealthy landlord who owned 360 acres of land. By the time Rajamouli was 10 or 11 years old, they lost much of their wealth.[40][41][42] As his father Vijayendra Prasad and uncle Siva Shakthi Datta were passionate about filmmaking, they sold most of their remaining assets and shifted to Madras to make films. They started many films that went unfinished. They faced financial losses and started working as ghostwriters to make ends meet.[43][27][44] Thirteen members of his extended family started living in a two-room apartment in Madras. Rajamouli recollects his family sitting together and making fun of themselves and their condition at the time, but they were never sad about it.[40][41]
Later Prasad established himself as a screenwriter with films like Bobbili Simham (1994) and Gharana Bullodu (1995).[32][45] Wanting to make another film, his father then co-produced (along with Katragadda Prasad) and directed a film called Ardhangi (1996) with his life savings.[27][46][35][47] Rajamouli recalls about that film:
I was very actively involved in the project as an associate director. I felt that film was my child, even though I didn't direct the film. It was a miserable failure. My family went into a debt trap. It took us years to pick up and put the pieces together. All of that strongly stayed in my mind. That was a very low period for me. I then decided to never take anything for granted. It imbibed in me the work ethic to make everything perfect and interesting for the audience, no matter how small or unimportant that scene or shot might be. That lowest phase of my life taught me how I should work later on in my career.[44][35][46][47]
Career
Early work
Rajamouli started his film career as an apprentice to the veteran film editor Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao and worked with him for six months.[48][27] Rajamouli recollects, "Even in my early 20s, I didn't know how to plan for my future. My father would constantly scold me for doing nothing. I joined films just to get away from his nagging. Slowly, I found my love for direction."[39] He worked at AVM recording theatre in Chennai for a few days. He also worked as an assistant director to Kranthi Kumar for some time.[49][50] Then, he assisted his father Vijayendra Prasad for six years.[35] He started writing for films but was always disappointed by the execution of his stories by other directors. His frustration as a writer motivated him to become a director so that he can bring out his vision as a writer perfectly onto the screen.[51]
He then shifted to Hyderabad from Chennai and worked with his relative, Gunnam Gangaraju, from whom he learnt about the practical aspect of filmmaking.[35][27][52] Later under the supervision of K. Raghavendra Rao, he directed social message-oriented commercials. He also directed a few advertisements for the Telugu Desam Party.[27][52] He then worked for one and a half years as the director of the Telugu TV serial, Santhi Nivasam, along with Vara Mullapudi, which was produced by Raghavendra Rao. It aired on ETV.[27][52] In an interview in 2005, Rajamouli called it the most arduous period in his life as he used to work for 17 hours a day.[35] He recalled:
"My main aim while working in television was to get Mr Rao's approval. During my TV days, I didn't have much of an idea of what I was making. The good thing was that I was a hard worker, and I earned the nickname work devil."[42]
2001–2008: Film debut and breakthrough
In 2001, Raghavendra Rao offered Rajamouli the chance to direct a feature film for his production house titled, Student No: 1, which the latter accepted.[27] Raghavendra Rao provided the screenplay in addition to supervising the direction. Rajamouli later regretted not working for a longer time as an assistant director. "When I made my first film Student No: 1, I didn't know how to use a crane because I never used a crane while I was doing my TV serial."[53][54]Student No:1 was a coming of age romantic action film and was the second film of Jr. NTR in a lead role. Rajamouli would go onto collaborate with Jr. NTR in three more films. Released on 27 September 2001, the film marked the official debut of SS Rajamouli as a director; the film went on to become a critical and commercial success, and was Jr. NTR's first successful film.[55]
Rajamouli's second film was Simhadri (2003), again with Jr. NTR. After his first film, he realised that the kind of films he wanted to make had more drama and action, and so he made Simhadri, an action film.[52] It marked Rajamouli's first collaboration with his father Vijayendra Prasad who provided the story. Simhadri was also the first film penned by Rajamouli. The film emerged as a blockbuster and became one of the highest grossing Telugu films ever at the time.[56]
In the two-year gap between Student No.1 and Simhadri, Rajamouli planned his first mythological film with Malayalam actor Mohanlal, but the film eventually got shelved.[57] In 2015, Assistant art director Manu Jagath, who later worked as the art director for Baahubali, released several sketches he had drawn for the shelved Mohanlal project.[58] During the same period he was also supposed to direct a fantasy film with Prakash Kovelamudi as the lead but the film was shelved due to financial reasons.[35][27][32]
Rajamouli's third film was Sye (2004), starring Nithin and Genelia. He recalls, "I got plenty of offers after the success of Simhadri. But I deliberately made a decision not to make an emotionally charged mass film like Simhadri immediately. I don't want to get branded as mass director. Hence I did Sye, which is radically different compared to Simhadri."[35] It was a first-of-its-kind film in Telugu cinema, in that it was based on the sport of Rugby. This film was also the first instance where Rajamouli collaborated with K. K. Senthil Kumar who would eventually work with him on seven more films.[59]Sye was commercially successful and won four Nandi Awards. Sye made a huge impact on the Telugu popular culture through its popularisation of Rugby to the masses.[60]
His next venture was Chatrapathi (2005), an action drama set in Vizag dealing with the plight of refugees. Chatrapathi starred Prabhas in the lead role with music composed by M. M. Keeravani and cinematography by Senthil Kumar. It was Rajamouli's fourth consecutive hit and became one of the highest grossing Telugu films of the year.[61]
He then directed Yamadonga (2007), a fantasy action comedy film starring Jr NTR, Priyamani, Mohan Babu, and Mamata Mohandas. The plot follows Raja, a thief who is killed by his rivals. Raja's soul travels to Naraka (hell) to face the trial for his sins by Yama, the Hindu god of death and justice. The film was successful at the box-office and became one of the highest grossing Telugu films ever at the time.[56][66]
Rajamouli started his own production company Visvamithra Creations named after the ancient Indian sage Visvamitra. Prabhas acted as Visvamitra for the logo shoot of the company.[67]Yamadonga was produced under the Visvamithra Creations banner but the producers were Cherry and Urmila Gunnam with Rama Rajamouli presenting the film.[68]
Magadheera was dubbed into Tamil as Maaveeran and into Malayalam as Dheera: The Warrior and was released on 27 May 2011.[73] Both the dubbed versions were successful and earned a good fan base for Ram Charan in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.[74] The Japanese-dubbed version of the film released in August 2018 and became one of the highest-grossing Indian films ever at the Japanese box office.[75][74]
In 2010 he directed the action comedy film Maryada Ramanna starring Sunil and Saloni. Rajamouli watched the 1923 silent comedy film Our Hospitality and liked it immensely. He wanted to re-tell the same story in his own way. He tried to contact the original creators but found out that the original writers of the film were long dead and that the film's copyright had expired as it had been over 75 years since the film's release. His cousin S. S. Kanchi and him then adapted that story with a Rayalaseema backdrop focusing on the factional violence and hospitality that co-existed in the region.[76][77] Regarding his decision to make a small film like Maryada Ramanna he remarked, "I decided that my next project would be Maryada Ramanna during Magadheera shooting itself because Magadheera is a one and half year project that demands lot of physical labour and mental strain. I didn't want to commit another physically exhausting film immediately after Magadheera."[78]
Maryada Ramanna opened to favourable reviews from critics. It became one of the highest grossing Telugu films of 2010.[79][80][81] It received four Nandi Awards, including Best Popular Feature Film. Maryada Ramanna was remade in Hindi as Son of Sardaar and into other languages like Kannada, Bengali, Tamil, and Malayalam.[78][82] In 2012 Rajamouli stated in an interview with Maa TV that Maryada Ramanna was his personal favourite among all the films he had directed.[83]
Sudeep, Nani, and Rajamouli on the sets of Eega
His next project was the fantasyaction filmEega (2012). The film was produced by Sai Korrapati'sVaaraahi Chalana Chitram with an estimated budget of ₹30–40 crore (US$6–7 million). It was simultaneously filmed in Tamil language with the title Naan Ee (transl.I, the Fly). The film stars Nani, Samantha, and Sudeep.The idea of Eega originated in the mid-1990s in Vijayendra Prasad's mind. At that time, he was joking about a housefly seeking revenge on a human in a conversation with his son Rajamouli.[84] After completing Maryada Ramanna, Rajamouli reconsidered the concept after thinking of directing a film that was distinct from any other.[85] He explained it thus:
When I started making films, I stuck to formula films for a while which did well at the box office. After a while, I was getting too comfortable with what I was doing, so I wanted to experiment with something completely different. I wanted to take the audience by surprise and that is when I went back to the story I had heard 16 years ago.[86]
Upon release, the film received widespread critical acclaim including for Rajamouli's direction. It became one of the highest-grossing Telugu films of all time. The Tamil version Naan Ee and Malayalam version Eecha were also big hits at the box office.[87] The Hindi dubbed version Makkhi underperformed at the box office which Rajamouli attributed to a poor promotional strategy. But the satellite rights of Makkhi were sold at a price of ₹8 crore to Star Gold, by far the highest price ever paid for the Hindi dub of a Telugu film at the time.[88]
In 2015, Rajamouli was named as the CNN-News18 Indian of the Year in Entertainment.[105] In 2016, he was honoured with the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour for his contributions towards the field of Art.[106]
His next project was Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017), which served as both a sequel and a prequel to Baahubali: The Beginning.[107] The film was premiered at the British Film Institute.[108][109] It was made on an estimated budget of ₹250 crore ($37 million)[d] and was the most expensive Indian film ever made at the time. Baahubali 2 was released on 28 April 2017 and later dubbed into Hindi, Malayalam, Japanese, Russian and Chinese. Released in conventional 2D and IMAX formats, Baahubali 2 was the first Telugu film to also release in 4K High Definition format.
The exceptional success of Baahubali films across different Indian languages, regions, and states kickstarted what has been termed the pan-Indian films movement where a film is simultaneously released in multiple Indian languages and is made to appeal to audiences across the country, cutting across the linguistic and cultural barriers.[112][113] Several filmmakers and film analysts have credited Rajamouli for almost single-handedly expanding the reach and market of South Indian cinema to Northern India and beyond.[112][114][115]
Rajamouli, Ram Charan, Alia Bhatt, Jr. NTR and DVV Danayya at the RRR Press Meet in Chennai
Rajamouli's subsequent film RRR (2022) is an epic action drama based on the lives of Indian revolutionaries, Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem. Made on a budget of est. ₹550 crore (US$72 million),[116] it is the most expensive Indian film ever made. The film stars NTR Jr, Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn, and Alia Bhatt.[117]RRR opened to positive reviews from critics with praise for the performances, particularly Rama Rao and Charan, and screenplay by Rajamouli.
Rajamouli is committed to collaborate with actor Mahesh Babu. The film, touted to be a jungle adventure set in Africa, is expected to begin its production in 2024.[120] While attending the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, he revealed more details about the project. "My next film with Mahesh Babu will be a globetrotting action adventure. It's going to be a kind of James Bond or Indiana Jones film with Indian roots."[121][122] In September 2022, he signed with the American talent agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in a move that has been described as a "coup for the agency".[123]
There were also reports of him planning an animated film rooted in Indian content.[124] In August 2022, he revealed that he was working on a couple of scripts that would be suitable to be made as animation films.[38]
Rajamouli frequently speaks about his intention to make a film based on the Indian epic Mahabharata in the future.[125][126] He thinks it will be at least a four-part project requiring a time period of six to ten years.[127][128][129] In May 2017 he noted, "I don't want to compromise in making it and the huge project is going to take 10 years perhaps. I am apprehensive as to whether I will be able to execute such a technically-superior project (in the immediate future)." He had also revealed that the film series may not feature established movie stars. "This is the kind of film that will not work out if I rope in stars. Once the different characters are designed, I would have to hunt for the right artists and mould them accordingly," he said.[125][130] In July 2022 he said, "Mahabharata has been my long, long, long dream project, but it will take a long time for me to step into that ocean. Before I step into Mahabharata I want to make, maybe, three or four films."[47] In May 2023, he said, "If I get to the point of making Mahabharata, it would take me a year just to read the versions of Mahabharata that are available in the country. At present, I can only assume that it would be a 10-part film."[131]
My personal opinions, my thoughts, and my lifestyle have nothing to do with my profession. I keep that completely separate. Professionally, I am different. I don't try to rub my thoughts on to my characters, or on to my storytelling.
— Rajamouli on mythological themes in his films despite him being an agnostic.[136]
Rajamouli married Rama, sister-in-law of his cousin Keeravani in 2001.[27][52] After their marriage, Rama worked as a costume designer for many of Rajamouli's films. He adopted Karthikeya, Rama's son from her previous marriage. The couple also has an adopted daughter Mayookha.[137][138] Karthikeya is married to Pooja Prasad, niece of Telugu actor Jagapathi Babu.[139]
Rajamouli is nicknamed Jakkanna after the legendary c.12th century sculptor Jakanachari (known in Telugu as Jakkanna) who is credited with building numerous temples during the Hoysala reign. The moniker was coined by actor Rajeev Kanakala during the making of the TV serial Santhi Nivasam (c. 2000) directed by Rajamouli and was in reference to his work ethic and perfectionism like the famed sculptor.[148][149]
Regarding his religious views, in a March 2022 interview, Rajamouli stated that "I don't believe in God or religion the way it is portrayed now. But if you ask me 'Do you believe in the existence of God?' I'd say 'I don't know'."[150] At Beyond Fest 2022 in Los Angeles, Rajamouli said that he is not a Hindu in the religious sense, but considering it as Dharma, he is 'very much' a Hindu. "I am a follower of Hindu dharma", he said.[151][152][153][154]
A self confessed "film freak",[155] Rajamouli's penchant for filmmaking is best captured by the word "emotion". He often stated that his films are based on stories driven by human emotions.[156][157] Revenge is a recurring theme in his films.[158] Several of Rajamouli's films feature flashback episodes where the protagonist's backstory is revealed, typically in the second half of the film. This narrative style is used in Simhadri, Vikramarkudu, Magadheera, Baahubali: The Beginning, and RRR.[19]
I’m very loyal to my action sequences. I just won’t put them in for the sake of it. I believe that human endurance and physical capabilities are unimaginable when they are emotionally charged. There are things that real people have achieved that we can’t imagine, but they happen once in a lifetime … The only thing is they happen quite a number of times in my films.
— Rajamouli on action sequences in his films.[159]
Describing his films as “big-scale action movies driven by hard-core emotion”,[160] Rajamouli considers himself to be a magnifying glass that enhances the various emotions of the characters on screen, and sees the presence of violent action as an integral factor that engages the viewer with on screen proceedings.[161][162] "For me, the character being emotionally charged up at that moment to go into that action sequence is very, very important," said Rajamouli about action sequences in his films.[163]
Rajamouli's films typically, are visual effects-heavy and he is one of the pioneering filmmakers in India in integrating computer-generated imagery (CGI) with live action. He mentions his preference for practical effects over CGI and likes to capture as much footage as possible in-camera.[163] Rajamouli's craft in CGI has improved with time. The CGI in the underwater shark-fighting sequence in Chatrapathi was considered ambitious, but choppy. The CGI sequences in Magadheera, Eega, Baahubali, and RRR are more polished with each film improving upon the previous one.[13]
While scaling up his work with "larger-than-life" themes over the years, Rajamouli maintained his signature style of filmmaking that allows audiences to simmer in the thrills and emotions of the story with less dialogue.[164][165] All his films end with a print of his trademark circular stamp stating: "an S. S. Rajamouli film".[166]
Film critic Baradwaj Rangan opined that Rajamouli is a "great storyteller" who takes up common concepts and develops them in a novel acceptable way.[167] Production designer Sabu Cyril, a four-time National Award winner for Best Art Direction and who worked for the Baahubali duology, said his team came up with as many as 25,000 sketches to design the various grand sets for the film in order to satisfy the rigorous visualisation standards of Rajamouli, which were grand and at the same time gone into very minute details ensuring that every pillar and wall had the right design. Cyril said, "Rajamouli makes no compromises."[168]
The budgets and box-office figures are all estimates collated from various sources like newspapers, magazines, reputed film portals etc. Wherever the estimates vary, a range of highest and lowest estimates is provided. All values in Indian Rupees (₹) are converted to US Dollars ($) based on the average yearly exchange rate data from World Bank.
Rajamouli has redefined the reach of regional cinema consistently through his films, starting with Eega [2012] to the Baahubali series, and now with RRR. The entire concept of pan-Indian films came from him when he succeeded with Eega across many Indian languages. This opened up this concept. Thanks to his vision, today, a lot of films are able to be made on a bigger budget targeted at a pan-Indian audience. Rajamouli stands tall among all Indian filmmakers for his vision, innovation, and expansion of the regional language market at a global level.
Through his Baahubali films, Rajamouli is credited with pioneering the pan-Indian films movement.[112][113] Gautam Jain of Ormax Media, a media and entertainment consulting firm writes, "Before the release of Bahubali: The Beginning (2015), the term 'Pan India film' did not exist in film media or audience lingo." He also called him the 'original Pan India filmmaker' and the 'most successful Pan India filmmaker'.[114]Vijay Kiragandur, the producer of the KGF films credited Rajamouli for making Baahubali films and giving him the confidence to take KGF: Chapter 1 to audiences across the country.[115]
Rachel Dwyer, professor of Indian Cultures and Cinema at SOAS University of London remarked that Rajamouli is India's most significant director at present who can make a film in a south Indian language that becomes a pan-Indian film which can also be enjoyed overseas audience.[220]
Film trade analyst Komal Nahta, citing the successful track record of Rajamouli called him the "biggest Indian film director ever".[7] Manoj Kumar R of The Indian Express wrote, "It's a rarity to find a director who sells more tickets than the leading stars of a movie. And in that respect, he has monopolized that space."[55] Sagar Tetali of Film Companion noted, that the success of Rajamouli's films is the triumph of directorial ambition over the actor-star image — centered film culture in Telugu cinema."[45] At the 95th Academy Awards, "Naatu Naatu" from RRR became the first song from an Indian film to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song. He was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in June 2024.[221]
^ abThe average exchange rate in 2017 was 67.81 Indian rupees (₹) per 1 US dollar (US$).[110]
^Box-office figures are reported in the form of either gross receipts or distributor share (distributor rentals). For older films, only the box-office share figures are available. The distributor share of a film is the box-office gross less the exhibitor's cut and taxes. For more details, see Distributor rentals.
^The New Indian Express quoted Nani estimating the film's budget as ₹26 crore,[179] S. S. Rajamouli estimated the film's budget to be around ₹30–35 crore in an interview with The Hindu,[180] and Rajeev Kamineni of PVP Cinema estimated the film's budget as ₹40 crore in an interview with The Times of India.[181]
Kanwal, Sanyukta (13 October 2021). "India: best paid directors by fee 2020". Statista. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022. In 2020, S.S. Rajamouli, known for films like Baahubali: The Beginning and Baahubali 2, was the leading director in India whose charge for a single project grossed about one billion Indian rupees.
^ abcSharma, Suparna (30 April 2022). "Indian director Rajamouli scores a global hit with new film RRR". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 1 July 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2022. "Rajamouli has an impeccable track record. Every film of his has worked … It would not be wrong to say that he's the biggest [Indian film director] ever," Komal Nahta, an Indian film trade analyst, told Al Jazeera. Since his film-making career began in 2001, Rajamouli has directed 12 films – all box office hits.
^Tetali, Sagar (22 March 2022). "SS Rajamouli, Maker of Myths". Film Companion. Archived from the original on 11 July 2023. Retrieved 11 July 2023. And he has never failed — he has not had a film which was unprofitable at the box office, and ...... At what he has set out to do — whether or not it's to the taste of the art film aficionado or the film critic — he has never yet failed.
^ abSrinivasan, Madhumitha (7 June 2015). "'I sell oranges'". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 17 October 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2022. After Magadheera, which became the highest-grossing Telugu film of all time, .....
^ abc"Postmortem – Magadheera by SS Rajamouli". Idlebrain.com. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2022. And his latest movie Magadheera became industry hit in all areas across India and overseas by breaking previous records by miles.
Bamzai, Kaveree (1 April 2022). "Cinema's Biggest Mythmaker". Open Magazine. Archived from the original on 26 June 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2022. He is perhaps singlehandedly responsible for the rise of the pan-Indian film.
Jain, Gautam (25 March 2022). "The original Pan India filmmaker". Ormax Media. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2022. Before the release of Bahubali: The Beginning (2015), the term 'Pan India film' did not exist in film media or audience lingo.
Srinivasan, Latha (30 March 2022). "Inside the mind of SS Rajamouli: Decoding how the RRR director lends scale to his storytelling". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 18 August 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022. Producer G Dhananjayan says, "Rajamouli has redefined the reach of regional cinema consistently through his films, starting with Eega [2012] to the Baahubali series, and now with RRR. The entire concept of pan-Indian films came from him when he succeeded with Eega across many Indian languages. This opened up this concept. Thanks to his vision, today, a lot of films are able to be made on a bigger budget targeted at a pan-Indian audience. Rajamouli stands tall among all Indian filmmakers for his vision, innovation, and expansion of the regional language market at a global level."
S., Vidya; Lidhoo, Prerna (22 July 2022). "How Movies From the South Conquered Bollywood". Business Today. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022. As audiences lapped up 'Why did Katappa kill Baahubali?', a market was not just created in the North for theatrical releases of Hindi-dubbed south Indian films, but it also paved the way for them to hammer Hindi films in their home turf. Clearly, Rajamouli has sown the seeds of south Indian cinema's dominance of Indian movie theatres across the country, with others following in his footsteps.
Dwyer, Rachel (1 April 2022). "Director's Roar – The globalisation of South Indian cinema began with Rajamouli". Open Magazine. Archived from the original on 5 September 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022. SS Rajamouli is perhaps India's most significant director today. He can make a film in a south Indian language that, when dubbed, becomes a pan-Indian film that can also be enjoyed overseas. SS Rajamouli is now widely regarded as one of India's greatest directors. Rajamouli's impact on Indian cinema is yet to be assessed, but he is perhaps primarily responsible for galvanising the interest in south Indian cinema that is now being watched all over India.
^"SS Rajamouli – Twitter". Twitter. Archived from the original on 21 April 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022. my mother tongue is Telugu and I was born in Karnataka
^"Why did Katappa Kill Baahubali?". The Indian Express. 18 March 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2022. Very early in his career, he dropped 'K' from his name, KV Vijayendra Prasad, because "it was an indicator of my caste". "The caste system is at the root of most problems our country faces. I want it eradicated but it's not enough to preach without practising it."
^ ab"I am scared of handling big stars: Rajamouli". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 14 September 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022. Right from class two, my passion was telling stories. On Saturdays, we had an extra-curricular class, where it was always Rajamouli telling stories. I don't remember what I studied in school, but I remember each and every comic I read of Amar Chitra Katha. I used to mix and mash the characters from Amar Chitra Katha to tell stories to suit my liking.
^ abCain, Rob (27 August 2015). "An Interview With 'Baahubali' Director SS Rajamouli: The Beginning". Forbes. Archived from the original on 9 October 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2022. I was fascinated by the forts, the battles, the kings, I not only used to read those stories but I kept telling those stories to my friends in my own way.
^ ab"I am scared of handling big stars: Rajamouli". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 14 September 2022. Retrieved 14 September 2022. We were failed producers that ate away all the resources that my grandfather had accumulated as a rich landlord. We hit rock bottom and did not have any money for even my further education after intermediate. All of us were living in a two-room apartment. Even though they were hard days, it was fun together. Today, talking about those days, it looks as if we were poor; but at that time, we were happy and were sure that good days lay ahead.
^"I am scared of handling big stars: Rajamouli". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 14 September 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022. My father, who then had no money to produce films, became a ghostwriter just for money. At home, he used to talk about his stories and I used to give him inputs and he took me as his assistant. He then established himself as a writer in films and we graduated to becoming lower middle class with each of his brothers living in separate houses.
^ ab"I am scared of handling big stars: Rajamouli". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 14 September 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022. After my father earned a little money as a writer, he went to his first love of producing films but the film was a miserable flop. I was 23 years old and everything we had was gone. Also, since he had become a director, no one gave him writing assignments; so we had no source of income for a year. We were scared of even paying our TV installment of ₹630 and were scared of the humiliation when the guy would come and take it away. This was the time I lost my innocence and the harsh reality of life hit me.
^"I am scared of handling big stars: Rajamouli". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 14 September 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022. To escape from my father, I thought I should stay away from home and said I will become a director. So he put me as an apprentice under an editor and basically I did nothing except fooling around. But I read a lot of books.
^"First time lucky". Deccanchronicle.com. 6 November 2014. Archived from the original on 10 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
^"I am scared of handling big stars: Rajamouli". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 14 September 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022. I started writing for films but was always disappointed by the execution and thus wanted to become a director to bring out what I envisioned as a writer. My frustration as a writer was the reason for my becoming a director.
^Tetali, Sagar (22 March 2022). "SS Rajamouli, Maker of Myths". Film Companion. Retrieved 15 July 2022. Rugby did not even skirt the periphery of our consciousness as kids. We'd never watched it on TV or live at a ground. But they had just watched Rajamouli's new sports drama, Sye, and were in the grip of the viscerality of the sport.
^"Cherry (P Chiranjeevi) – Telugu Cinema interview – Telugu film producer". Idlebrain.com. 4 August 2007. Archived from the original on 1 September 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022. When Rajamouli wanted to design the logo of Viswamitra Creations, he needed a model for Viswamitra photo. He requested Prabhas as his physique is very good. Prabhas obliged for a photo shoot. The designer cut the physique of Prabhas and inserted in the logo of Viswamitra creations.
^"Maryada Ramanna press meet – Telugu cinema". Idlebrain.com. 26 June 2010. Archived from the original on 23 August 2022. Retrieved 23 August 2022. SS Rajamouli said, "Rayalaseema is known for factionism and violence. But is also known for hospitality. Maryada Ramanna is about a man who is torn with his two extremities of factionism and hospitality."
^"'Makkhi' director all set to break into Bollywood". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 23 August 2022. Retrieved 23 August 2022. In one area of Andhra Pradesh family feuds that persist for many generations is a reality. That's what I showed in Maryada Ramanna. I saw families that were perfectly cultured and courteous, killing each other. I don't think this peculiar contradictory culture of the co-existence of violence and hospitality exists in Punjab.
^"Ram Charan's Nayak sets new record". The Times of India. 28 December 2018. Archived from the original on 28 August 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2022. Although Makkhi (Eega in Telugu) was traded for Rs 8 crore, it can be treated as a straight film because of the theatrical release of the Hindi version.
^S., Vidya; Lidhoo, Prerna (22 July 2022). "How Movies From the South Conquered Bollywood". Business Today. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022. Released in 2015, Baahubali: The Beginning set the pace with an impressive lifetime gross of 500 crore in India to become the country's highest-grossing movie at the time.
^ abcBamzai, Kaveree (1 April 2022). "Cinema's Biggest Mythmaker". Open Magazine. Archived from the original on 26 June 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2022. He is perhaps singlehandedly responsible for the rise of the pan-Indian film.
^ abcSrinivasan, Latha (30 March 2022). "Inside the mind of SS Rajamouli: Decoding how the RRR director lends scale to his storytelling". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 18 August 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022. Producer G Dhananjayan says, "Rajamouli has redefined the reach of regional cinema consistently through his films, starting with Eega [2012] to the Baahubali series, and now with RRR. The entire concept of pan-Indian films came from him when he succeeded with Eega across many Indian languages. This opened up this concept. Thanks to his vision, today, a lot of films are able to be made on a bigger budget targeted at a pan-Indian audience. Rajamouli stands tall among all Indian filmmakers for his vision, innovation, and expansion of the regional language market at a global level."
^ abJain, Gautam (25 March 2022). "The original Pan India filmmaker". Ormax Media. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2022. Before the release of Bahubali: The Beginning (2015), the term 'Pan India film' did not exist in film media or audience lingo.
^ abS., Vidya; Lidhoo, Prerna (22 July 2022). "How Movies From the South Conquered Bollywood". Business Today. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022. "It's all thanks to Rajamouli and Yarlagadda for making pan-India films and giving us the confidence", says Vijay Kiragandur, Co-founder of Hombale Group, which produced the KGF movies. It was a meeting with Rajamouli in Bengaluru two months before KGF1's release that set the ball rolling. They showed him an 8-10-minute show-reel cut of the film on an iPad, and he asked them to go pan-India. "People in Karnataka were saying we are spending more on marketing than production in KGF1. [His words] gave us the confidence to spend that much. Otherwise also we would have gone all out, but would not have taken that much of a risk unless we heard it from the horse's mouth", says Kiragandur.
^"Rajamouli has his eyes on the Vijayanagara Empire". Bangalore Mirror. 24 June 2012. Archived from the original on 28 August 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2022. Rajamouli said, "I have a subject in mind. It is an idea evolving for years. The story has the Vijayanagara Empire as its backdrop during Sri Krishnadevaraya's rule."
^Kavirayani, Suresh (11 February 2014). "We are Family". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021 – via Pressreader.
^"The stronger the emotions, the more people love a movie, says Rajamouli". The Times of India. 21 March 2022. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2023. Over the course of my career I learned that the stronger the emotions or more basic the emotions, the more people tend to like your movie," Rajamouli said. "That's what I have been doing. [...] I realised that if films are based on stories driven by basic human emotions, they will have a wider reach.
^S., Vidya; Lidhoo, Prerna (22 July 2022). "How Movies From the South Conquered Bollywood". Business Today. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022. When I start writing a story, for me, it is the emotion I should be moved by. [...] I might not believe in God, but I connect to the emotion of a devotee and a God. And, I connect to the emotion that drives masses: devotion and submission to a greater self. I understand the power of that emotion, the power of a mass emotion, and I too feel that emotion. I might not believe in God, but I believe in the emotion, and if it moves me, I write it.
^S., Vidya; Lidhoo, Prerna (22 July 2022). "How Movies From the South Conquered Bollywood". Business Today. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022. Says Rajamouli, an agnostic whose tales are replete with mythological themes of reincarnation and revenge
^Shanmugam, Kavitha (9 April 2022). "I make big-scale movies driven by emotions: Rajamouli". The Federal. Archived from the original on 24 August 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022. "When humans are under the grip of emotion, they tend to behave in a superhuman way and are pushed to do anything and that is what I tap," he said, describing his films as being "big scale action movies driven by hard-core emotion".
^Bhopatkar, Tejashree (30 December 2021). "SS Rajamouli: My family members are ruthless critics; they show no mercy in ripping apart my films if they don't like anything". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 27 August 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022. Yes, violence is part of my storytelling but not in a negative way. Each and everything, whether it is violence, softness, or any kind of emotion, I like to call myself a magnifying glass. I like to enhance my emotions. And I feel the same kind of emotion will enhance much more if you have action, if it has something just running around, It will just explode. It gives a larger-than-life effect. So that is my way of storytelling. That is how I like to see films, that is how I like to make films.
^Jain, Gautam (25 March 2022). "The original Pan India filmmaker". Ormax Media. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022. Instead of relying on action to only drive an adrenaline rush, SS Rajamouli uses action to drive various emotions. This leads to higher engagement with the proceedings on screen during action set-pieces.
^ abCite error: The named reference :223 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Kokra, Sonali (12 April 2022). "'RRR' director SS Rajamouli on being a 'rollercoaster entertainer'". The National. Archived from the original on 30 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022. I generally like larger-than-life, pushing-the-boundaries sort of canvases [...] I believe entertainment to be a very serious business. It takes a lot for the audience to spend their hard-earned money and effort to come watch our films. They don't come to my movies for a history lesson, they come for thrill and emotional thrust. That's what I try to deliver. [...] I try to tell my story through visuals. [...] I try to put in as little dialogue as possible
^Srinivasan, Latha (30 March 2022). "Inside the mind of SS Rajamouli: Decoding how the RRR director lends scale to his storytelling". Archived from the original on 18 August 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022. Rajamouli had said at an event, "A pan Indian film does not mean that actors from different languages come together. A pan Indian film means a story that connects to everyone irrespective of the language. While creating a story, I think 'If I switch off this dialogue portion, will the audience still connect to my movie?' Many times, the answer is a yes."
^Manohar, Niveda (9 July 2015). "Before Watching Baahubali: 7 Rajamouli Quirks". Silverscreen India. Archived from the original on 3 January 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2023. SS Rajamouli is a brand in Tollywood. Literally. He's even got a stamp for himself. No Rajamouli film is complete without this
^Madhavan, N (16 December 2015). "SS Rajamouli: Tollywood's hit machine". Forbes India. Archived from the original on 13 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022. "Rajamouli is a great storyteller. He knows people expect something new with every film. He takes up familiar concepts and develops them in an unfamiliar and acceptable way," says Baradwaj Rangan
^Madhavan, N (16 December 2015). "SS Rajamouli: Tollywood's hit machine". Forbes India. Archived from the original on 13 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022. "His visualisation is grand and, at the same time, goes into very minute details," says Sabu Cyril, [...] "He ensured that every pillar and wall had the right design. He makes no compromises," Cyril adds.
^Hyman, Dan (16 August 2018). "Matt Groening Just Keeps Going". Esquire. Archived from the original on 13 June 2022. Retrieved 13 June 2022. In a given show there might be homages to Buster Keaton and to an Indian filmmaker named S. S. Rajamouli, who has made some of my favorite films of the last decade. I particularly recommend a movie called Magadheera.
