S.S. Rajamouli

In the glamorous world of cinema, S.S. Rajamouli is one of the versatile, charismatic, visionary directors and screenwriters who has virtually changed the rules of the game in Indian Cinema. He has been instrumental in blurring the divide between South Indian Cinema and Hindi Cinema. Now, the films are labeled as Pan India films.

He proved his mettle both at the box office and in cinematic brilliance by delivering superhit, mass-masala, iconic films like Bahubaali and RRR. These films have completely shaped the film industry and forced other directors to come up with diverse and interesting stories.

About and Early Life

Koduri Srisaila Sri Rajamouli was born to Vijayendra Prasad and Raja Nandini in Telugu Family on 10 October 1973. When he was born, his parents were residing in the Raichur district of the Mysore state. His parents have roots in Andhra Pradesh. His father comes from Rajahmundry district, and his mother comes from the Visakhapatnam district.

Rajamouli is married to Rama, sister-in-law of his cousin Keeravani in 2001. Rama has helped Rajamouli in designing the costumes for Rajamouli's films. They have an adopted son whose name is Karthikeya, born from Rama's previous marriage. They have also adopted a daughter whose name is Mayookha.

Early Struggles

Stories of Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Bhagwat Geeta, heard from her grandmother had a deep impact on the Rajamouli's mind since childhood. When he used to listen attentively, seeing his deep interest in these mythological stories, his father, V. Vijayendra Prasad, allowed him to read Amar Chitra Katha comics, which were one of the most popular comics in India. The stories were based on historical heroes, religious, divine characters, and folk tales. All of these had a deep impact on SS Rajamouli, and from here, he started creating larger-than-life characters.

His inclination towards this type of genre had increased a lot, which was reflected in all his blockbuster films. It looks like Rajamouli sir started his career as an apprentice while he worked for 6 months with an old film editor, Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao. After this, he worked for a few days at AVM Recording Theater in Chennai, and then for some time, he was an assistant director with director Kranti Kumar till 2000; after this, he assisted his father, Vijayendra Prasad Ji, for 6 years. In the year 1996, his father, Vijayendra Prasad Ji, produced and directed a film named Ardhangini in which he invested his entire life's savings in this film and SS Rajamouli was the assistant director of the film; this film was a complete failure at the box office. Due to this, the entire family got into debt, and it took many years to get out of this situation.

SS Rajamouli mentions this incident and says that it taught me about work ethics; no matter how small and less important any scene in the movie is, why not make it perfect and interesting for the audience he said. From this worst incident of his life, he learned how to behave in my future career.

After this, he started writing, but he was always disappointed with the execution of the stories by the directors written by him. This disappointment inspired him to turn from writer to director so that, as a writer, he could showcase his vision perfectly on the screen. After this, he directed some social message-oriented commercials.

Career, Superhits Films, and Box Office Collection of SS Rajamouli

In 2000, SS Raja Mouli directed the Telugu TV serial Santhi Nivasam. In his interview, which was broadcast on ETV, he said that for this serial used to work 17 hours a day, and during this time, he got the nickname of "Work Devil".

The producer of the TV serial was Raghavendra Rao, who, after this serial, offered to direct a film for his production. It was a Telugu film from where SS Rajamouli entered Indian cinema as a director. The journey begins with the name of their first film, which came in the year 2001, Student Number: 1. When he was directing this film, he had to use cranes for shooting. He didn't even know how to use it because even in TV serials, all the scenes were shot without cranes.

Student Number 1 was a romantic action film with SS Rajamouli's directorial debut starring Junior NTR and Gajala in lead roles. It was the first film of SS Rajamouli as a director and the second film of Junior NTR as an actor. Later on, he made three films with junior NTR, and all the films were super hits. The film was made on a budget of Rs 1 crore 85 lakhs, this film did a business of Rs 12 crores and was a hit at the box office. The very first film proved to be a super hit; this film starred SS Rajamouli as well as Jr NTR.

It also became the first hit film, followed by an action masala film, Simhadri, in 2003. which again featured Junior NTR along with Bhumika Chawla and Ankita. This was the first such film of Rajamouli in which his father, Vijendra Prasad ji, had written the story; it was made on a budget of 8.5 crores; his film made a worldwide collection of Rs 25 crore 70 lakhs, and at the box office, this second film was also a super hit and was the highest-grossing film of Telugu cinema at that time.

After this, in 2004, he made his next film, Sye, in which Nitin was in the lead role and Genelia. He said that after the success of Simhadri, he received many offers but did not want to make another mass masala film immediately, nor did he want to make his mark as a master director of Telugu cinema.

It was the first such film based on rugby and was a commercially successful film. It won four Nandi Awards. The budget of the movie was Rs 10 crore; this film earned 26 crores and was once again a super hit at the box office. Rajamouli did the first cameo of his career in the film Sye. After this, in 2005, he made an action-drama movie, Chhatrapati, in which Prabhas was in the lead role, and the female lead was Shriya Saran, Bhanupriya, and Pradeep Rawat was the second. This was Rajamouli's fourth consecutive superhit film with a budget of Rs. 12.5 crores. This film made a gross collection of 21 crores, and it was named Hukumat Ki Jung for the Hindi audience.

Vikramarkudu was made in 2006, starring Ravi Teja and Anushka Shetty in the lead roles. Rajamouli was also attacked during the shooting of this film in Hyderabad, due to which he suffered a hairline fracture in his hand. It was a very successful film.

It was a film that was later remade in many languages, first in Kannada as Veera Madakari, then in Tamil as Siruthai, and then in Hindi as Rowdy Rathore. It was remade with the name Vikrama Rathore in which Akshay Kumar was in the lead role. Made on a budget of Rs 11 crore, it proved to be a breakthrough film for Anushka Shetty. This film collected 23 crores at the box office, thus another superhit film.

SS Rajamouli, the very next year, made an action-comedy film named Yamadanga in which, once again, Junior NTR was in the lead role. Priyamani, Mohan Babu, and Mamta Mohandas were also in an important role. Made with a budget of Rs 22 crore, this film made Rs 29 crore. Rajamouli did a good collection and was a successful film at the box office this year.

Rajamouli opened his own production company, Vishwamitra Creation, for the logo shoot of this company. Prabhas Vishwamitra became Yama Donga, a Telugu film released in 2008 that was made under this banner. Rajamouli did a cameo for the second time in the film Rainbow, in which he appeared in a movie. He played the role of the movie director in the film.

SS Rajamouli made a fantasy action film, Magadheera, in 2009, with Kajal Aggarwal and Ram Charan in the lead roles. Made with a budget of Rs 35 to 44 crores, it was the most expensive Telugu film at that time, but it proved to be a blockbuster film that year with a business of Rs 150 crore at the box office. SS Rajamouli got the best award for this film, which became the highest-grossing Telugu film. Best Director's Nandi Award and Filmfare Award Telugu were given to Magadheera. He was honored with the 57th National Film Award for Choreography and Best Special Effects; it also received a total of six Filmfare Awards South and nine Nandi Awards.

In 2010, SS Rajamouli directed the action-comedy film "Maryada Ramanna" with Sunil and Saloni Ashwani in lead roles. The film received positive reviews, winning four Nandi Awards and grossing 40 crores at the box office. The film was later remade in Hindi as "Son of Sardaar," starring Ajay Devgan, and also in Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, and Bengali languages. SS Rajamouli expressed in a 2012 interview that "Maryada Ramanna" was his personal favorite among the eight films he had directed.

In 2012, Rajamouli directed the fantasy action film "Eega" with Sudeep, Nani, and Samantha in lead roles. The film, made with a budget of Rs 30 to 40 crores, was a blockbuster with a business of Rs 125 crores. It was shot in both Telugu and Tamil, with the Tamil version titled "Makkhi."

The idea for "Eega" came from Vijendra Prasad in the mid-90s during a conversation with SS Raja Mauli. Rajamouli decided to turn it into a film concept after completing "Maryada Ramanna." The film, characterized by its unique plot, marked a departure from traditional filmmaking for Rajamouli.

SS Rajamouli's next movie was 2017's Baahubali: The Conclusion, which was also a sequel to the first part and a prequel. Also, Prabhas, Anushka Shetty, Rana Dagubatti, and Ramya Krishnan were in their first part. This film, adorned with the star card of Baahubali The Beginning, was made on a very high budget of Rs 250 crores. It was the most expensive film in Indian cinema at that time. This film was later dubbed in Japanese, Russian, and Chinese languages as Regular 2D. Apart from this, Katappa was also released in 4K format and high-definition format.

The question is why Baahubali was killed. When this film hit the theaters, the box office was filled with excitement. It created history by making a worldwide collection of Rs 1810 crore at the office. It remains the highest-grossing film; it is the first such film that made India's highest-grossing film. A gross collection of Rs. 1000 crores was done by mixing all the languages and that too only in 10 films. Within days, this film broke the record of Rs 387 crores of Dangal only in Hindi language. Made a net collection of Rs 510 crores and became the highest earner in the Hindi language. It became the highest-grossing film in the Telugu language as well.

The film sold a record 10 crore tickets during its box office run, which is said to be the highest ticket-selling film after 1975's 16 and 2001's Gadar Ek Prem Katha. The record is that Bahubali was released with extremely positive reviews, and this film was honored with three National Film Awards, including Best Popular Film. Many filmmakers are involved in special effects and best stunt choreographers. The film analyst gave credit to SS Rajamouli for the fact that he single-handedly expanded the market and reach of South Indian cinema to North India, took it even further, and started the Pan India Film Movement across the country.

After a year, in 2022, SS Raja Mouli brought this epic action drama RRR, Inspired by the lives of revolutionaries Alari Sitharaman Raju and Komaram Bheem. Made with such a huge budget of Rs 550 crores, it was the most expensive Indian cinema to date. In this film, Junior NTR and Ramcharan were in lead roles, and Ajay Devgan was also in a role. He was in a very important role and Alia Bhatt and Olivia Morris were also in the supporting cast. The film also got a lot of positive responses from critics, especially Ramcharan and Junior NTR's performance and SS Rajamouli for its screenplay and direction.

SS Rajamouli received a lot of praise from all over the world, worldwide gross of Rs 240 crores on the very first day. Along with the collection, it also had the highest opening day collection by any Indian film. This film broke the collection record and went on to do a worldwide business of Rs 1200 crores. And many other records of Indian cinema are in his name. MM Kirwani received the Oscar Award in 2023 for the Natu Natu Song of this film. RRR created history by winning the Oscar Award for Best Original Song.

Along with this, MM Kirwani won the Golden Globe Award for the same song and also the SS Raja Mouli Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Like its name, this film has become a global sensation not only in India but also outside India. SS Rajamouli's upcoming film is SS MB 29 with Mahesh Babu.

There is going to be a jungle adventure film set in Africa, it's James Bond or Indiana Jones, and it will be a global film that will be connected with Indian roots; SS Rajamouli has repeatedly shown his intention to make a film based on the Indian epic Mahabharata in the future.

Awards Achievement and Accolades

National Film Award

• Baahubali: The Beginning- Best Feature Film in 2015
• Baahubali 2: The Conclusion: Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment in 2017
• Eega: Best Feature Film in Telugu

Nandi Award: Andhra Pradesh State Film Awards

• Best Director for Baahubali: The Beginning in 2015
• Best Director for Eega in 2012
• Best Director for Magadheera in 2009

Honorary Awards

• The government of India bestowed SS Rajamouli with the Padmashree award, the fourth-highest civilian award.
• The government of Andhra Pradesh was bestowed with BN Reddy National Award in 2014
• Akkineni International Foundation has honored him with the ANR National Award.

Conclusion

S.S. Rajamouli is a visionary director, cinematic genius, and outstanding actor who has virtually ruled the box office and cinematic space. He has also been instrumental in blurring the north-south divide with his movies. With his movies like Baahubali, RRR, and Maakhi, he has scaled up the benchmark for creativity, innovation, and storytelling. His movies are keenly watched and thoroughly enjoyed by the audience and appreciated by the film reviewer. Due to his incredible work, he has been honored with numerous awards by the State Government, Central Government, and Film Fraternity. SS Rajamouli will continue to inspire and bring creativity to storytelling and cinematic space.