SS Rajamouli “The Master and Epitome of Grandeur Cinema” – Celebrating his 51st birthday!!!

Koduri Srisaila Sri Rajamouli who is named as SS Rajamouli later, was born in a Telugu family on October 10, 1973 at Raichur district which is located in present day Karnataka. He was named after the pilgrimage by his mother Raja Nandhini to Srisailam where she had a dream. He grew up in a joint family with his father Vijayendra Prasad’s five brothers in the same house. Rajamouli has one elder sister.

The inception of storytelling:

Rajamouli did his early education in Kovvur and Eluru and he successfully completed the Intermediate first year. He put a full stop to his formal education and continued his passion of storytelling. His grandmother, father and mother assisted his passion of storytelling by introducing the great literatures like Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavad Gita and comics which includes Amar Chitra Katha. The folktales and the deeply rooted characters left a bottomless impact within the young mind of Rajamouli. He has shared about his childhood in his interviews that he would narrate the stories which he reads every time to his friends. This carved this child into becoming a great storyteller to his whole nation.

He also shared the exquisite memories of his mother who not only fed unconditional love but also she was the pillar of support in pursuing his likes and passion without any social pressures.

Early Days in Cinema:

The art of filmmaking is rooted from his father Vijayendra Prasad who had encountered many hurdles in the journey of becoming a filmmaker along with his uncle Siva Shakthi Datta. 

“After my father earned a little money as a writer, he(his father) 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 instalment of Rs.630. This was the time I lost my innocence and the harsh reality of life hit me” – said Rajamouli 

He commenced his career as an apprentice for six months to Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao, veteran film editor. Then, he worked at AVM recording theatre followed by becoming an assistant directed to Kranti Kumar. For six years he gathered the experience of story writing from his father. To execute his vision he jumped into the art of direction and obtained the knowledge of practical aspect of filmmaking from his relative Gunnam Gangaraju. 

• Directed advertisements for Telugu Desam Party
• Directed commercials with social message under the supervision of K.Raghavendra Rao
• Worked as a Director for the TV serial ‘Santhi Nivasam’ which was aired on ETV. 

His debut movie “Student No.1” and the second movie “Simhadri” with the same lead hero Jr.NTR labelled him as a mass movie director in the Tollywood industry. The story of all his movies are written by his father Vijayendra Prasad and the Music is handled by M.M.Keeravani his cousin. Rajamouli and his family have done the movie together as a family till now.

Breakthrough:

He has been celebrated by the Tollywood industry and the common people of both Andra and Telangana. The name Rajamouli entered into the screens of the other neighbouring states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala after the release of “Magadheera” in 2009. The romantic fantasy action movie was released in Telugu later the movie team planned to dub and release it in Tamil and Malayalam respectively. The blockbuster box office hit “Magadheera” was released as “Maveeran” in Tamil and “Dheera: The Warrior” in Malayalam. It shook the box office of both states with its well written screenplay, terrific acting performances, powerpact dialogues, captivating cinematography and music. 

This constructed a fanbase for Rajamaouli and Ram Charan who played the lead role. After the mammoth triumph of “Magadheera”, Rajamouli has become one of the inevitable filmmakers in India. He never compromised in doing a movie which satisfies his soul. In 2010, he directed a movie “Maryada Ramanna” starring Sunil, the prominent comedy actor who became the lead role in this movie. This movie was based on the American silent comedy movie “Our Hospitality” which was directed by Buster Keaton in 1923. This movie was later remade into Tamil as “Vallavanukku Pullum Aayudham”.

“Eega, Baahubali: The Beginning, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion and RRR” all these movies made him a pan India director for his grandeur making with sets and VFX works which signifies his efforts and love for his creative storytelling to his audience not only in India but also throughout the global. The tireless promotions of “RRR” received millions of international audiences.

Global Recognition: 

The song “Naatu Naatu” from the movie ‘RRR’ has won the Academy Award and Golden Globe under the category of “Best Original Song in 2023”. Through this, M.M.Keeravani became the first music director from the Tollywood industry to win an Academy Award. The song was also performed on the stage of the Oscars which made a proud moment for India and Rajamouli & his team.

Awards as ‘Best Director’:

In 2016, he was honoured by the government of India by giving him the Fourth-highest civilian award “Padma Shri”.

Rajamouli is notably known for his simplicity and his visionary storytelling on the big screen. He married Rama, who works as the costume designer for all of his films. They have adopted a son and a daughter. He remains an iconic inspiration of many youngsters who thrive to become a filmmaker and as a human being.

In the recent event, his father and writer Vijayendra Prasad has confirmed that Rajamouli’s next movie with Telugu SuperStar Mahesh Babu would commence in January 2025.