S. S. Rajamouli

Koduri Srisaila Sri Rajamouli (born 10 October 1973), professionally known as S. S. Rajamouli, is an Indian film director and screenwriter, known for his works in the Telugu cinema.[5] He is best known for directing fantasy action films, such as Magadheera (2009) featured at the American Fantastic Fest, Eega (2012) winning Most Original Film at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival, Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) nominated for American Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017) winning the American Saturn Award for Best International Film, and the Australian Telstra People's Choice Award.[6][7][8] The Baahubali franchise became the highest-grossing Indian film series of all time, with a gross of approximately ₹1,810 crore (US$250 million).[9][10][11][12]

S. S. Rajamouli
Rajamouli in 2015
Born
Koduri Srisaila Sri Rajamouli[1]

(1973-10-10) 10 October 1973[1]
Manvi, Mysore State, India
Other namesJakkanna
Occupation
  • Film director
  • screenwriter
  • producer
Spouse(s)
Rama Rajamouli
​
(m. 2001)​
Children2
Parent(s)K. V. Vijayendra Prasad[2]
Raja Nandini[3]
RelativesM. M. Keeravaani (cousin)
Kalyan Koduri (cousin)
AwardsPadma Shri (2016)[4]
Websitessrajamouli.in

His other works include the action films Sye and Vikramarkudu featured at the 37th International Film Festival of India in the mainstream section.[13] Maryada Ramanna, Vikramarkudu and Chatrapathi were remade in various Indian languages, with successful reviews.[14][15] Rajamouli has garnered various honours including three National Film Awards, four Filmfare Awards South, five state Nandi Awards, the IIFA Award, two SIIMA Awards, the Star World India, "Entertainer of The Year" in 2012, and the "CNN-News18 Indian of the Year in Entertainment" for 2015.[16][17][18] In 2016, he was honoured with the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour for his contributions towards the field of Art.[19][20]

Early life

Rajamouli was born in 1973 in Amareshwara Camp near Manvi in Raichur district of present-day Karnataka state to screenwriter K. V. Vijayendra Prasad and Raja Nandini. His family hails from Kovvur in Andhra Pradesh.[21] His primary education was done at Kovvur and his higher education was at Eluru.[22] He lived in Vizag for several years as his mother was from there.[23]

Rajamouli's cousin, M. M. Keeravani has worked music composer for all of his films. His other cousin Kalyan Koduri is also a music composer.[24][25]

Career

Debut

Rajamouli started directing Telugu soap operas on ETV, under the guidance of K. Raghavendra Rao. Later on, he directed Santhi Nivasam TV Series which was produced by K. Raghavendra Rao. His first shot at Telugu films was Student No.1, with Jr. NTR in 2001. It took two years for Rajamouli to come up with his second movie Simhadri. 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.[26] 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.[27] Rajamouli's third movie was Sye, with actors Nithin and Genelia D'Souza. It was a first-of-its-kind movie in Tollywood, in that it was based on a rugby game. This movie was also the first instance where Rajamouli collaborated with K. K. Senthil Kumar.[28] His next was Chatrapathi, with the music of M. M. Keeravani and cinematography by Senthil Kumar.

Breakthrough

In his next stint Vikramarkudu, Rajamouli worked with Ravi Teja. The movie was a big success and was remade into Hindi as Rowdy Rathore by Prabhu Deva, with Akshay Kumar in the lead, into Tamil as Siruthai, and in Kannada as Veera Madakari by ace actor Sudeep.[29] He then directed Yamadonga, a socio-fantasy film praised by critics. Next was the fantasy-action film Magadheera, starring Ram Charan and Kajal Aggarwal. Magadheera became one of the biggest commercial successes in Telugu Cinema and was the highest-grossing Telugu movie at the end of its theatrical run. For Magadheera, Rajamouli won the Nandi Award for Best Director and Filmfare Award for Best Director – Telugu for the film. This film also won the National Film Award for Best Choreography,[30] and launched the leads into stardom. His action comedy film Maryada Ramanna (2010) was remade in Hindi as Son of Sardar and into other languages like Tamil, Kannada, Bengali, and Malayalam.[31][32] In 2012 Rajamouli stated in an interview with Maa TV that Maryada Ramanna was his personal favourite movie among all the movies he had directed.[33]

Ajay Devgan, Nani and Rajamouli during the special screening of Makkhi-(Hindi dubbed version of Eega (2012)
Anushka Shetty, Tamannaah Bhatia, Rajamouli, Karan Johar, Prabhas, Rana Daggubati at the trailer launch of the Hindi version of Baahubali 2: The Conclusion

Rajamouli's 2012 action-fantasy film Eega was screened to critical acclaim at L'Étrange Film Festival.[34][35][36] The Tamil version Naan Ee was screened at the 10th Chennai International Film Festival.[37][38] The Telugu version has also garnered awards for the Most Original Film, Best Special Effects, Best Comedy, Best Fights, Best Film to Watch with a Crowd, Best Editing, Best Villain and Best Hero at the 8th annual Toronto After Dark Film Festival.[39] The Telugu version was also screened the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, the Panorama section of the 16th Shanghai International Film Festival and Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival.[40][41][42] The film has received Best art direction award at the Fantaspoa film festival of Brazil.[43] Also, it has been nominated for six awards including Best film, Best Cinematographer, Best Special effects, Best Music Composer, Best Editor and Best supporting Actor for the Madrid International Film Festival.[44]

In 2015, he directed the epic action film Baahubali: The Beginning, which became the second highest grossing Indian film of all time, and the highest grossing Indian film of all time within India.[45][46][47][48] The making of the epic film was featured in BBC's documentary on 100 Years of Indian cinema, directed by Sanjeev Bhaskar.[49][50][51] The film was shot using Arri Alexa XT camera, marking Rajamouli's first film using digital camera.[52][53] Rajamouli's work was cited by The Hollywood Reporter, The Guardian and The Huffington Post.[54][55] The film was Nominated in four categories at the 42nd Saturn Awards of the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films in Los Angeles, USA.[56]

Baahubali: The Beginning was screened at the Open Cinema Strand of Busan International Film Festival, Indian Film Festival The Hague,[57] Sitges Film Festival in Spain,[58] Utopiales Film Festival in France,[59] Golden Horse Film Festival in Taipei, Taiwan,[60] Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia,[61] L'Etrange International Film Festival in Paris,[62] Five Flavours Film Festival in Poland,[63] Hawaii International Film Festival in Honolulu, Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival in Brussels, Belgium,[64][65] and the Cannes Film Festival.[66][67] The part II - Baahubali 2: The Conclusion was premiered at the British Film Institute,[6][68] and was the inaugural feature film at the 39th Moscow International Film Festival.[69][70][2] In 2018, he received the Behindwoods' inaugural A.V.M. Gold Medal for the visionary of Indian cinema.[71]

Personal life

Rajamouli married Rama in 2001. Rama has worked as a costume designer for many of Rajamouli's films. He has adopted Karthikeya, Rama's son from her previous marriage. The couple also have an adopted daughter.[72] Karthikeya is married to Pooja Prasad, niece of Telugu actor Jagapathi Babu.[73]

On 27 April 2017, Rajamouli said that he is an atheist.[74] On 15 May 2017, Rajamouli visited Mantralayam along with his family and prayed to village deity Manchalamma and Raghavendra Swamy for their blessings. Rajamouli and his family also took the blessings from the Peetadhipathi of Sri Raghavendra Swamy Matha, Sri Subhudendra Tirtha. Speaking on the occasion, Rajamouli said, "He was so elated that his films are well received by the audience and wished that the blessings of Sri Raghavendra Swamy be always showered upon him".[75]

Filmography
S. S. Rajamouli and Sabu Cyril on the set of Bahubali the Beginning
Key
Denotes films that have not yet been released
As a director
Year Film Language Direction Screenplay Story Notes
2001Student No.1 TeluguYesNoNo
2003Simhadri TeluguYesYesNo
2004Sye TeluguYesYesNo
2005Chatrapathi TeluguYesYesNo
2006Vikramarkudu TeluguYesYesNo
2007Yamadonga TeluguYesYesNo
2009Magadheera TeluguYesYesNo
2010Maryada Ramanna TeluguYesYesNo
2012Eega Telugu
Tamil 		YesYesYesReleased in Tamil as Naan Ee
2015Baahubali: The Beginning Telugu
Tamil 		YesYesNo
2017Baahubali 2: The Conclusion Telugu
Tamil 		YesYesNo
2021 RRR Telugu YesYesNo
As a producer
As a stunt choreographer
As an actor

Awards and nominations
Rajamouli receiving the Akkineni Nageswara Rao National Film Award from Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu.
National Film Awards
Year Work Category Result Ref.
2012 Eega Best Feature Film in Telugu Won [76]
2015 Baahubali: The Beginning Best Feature Film Won [77]
2017 Baahubali: The Conclusion Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment Won [78]
Filmfare Awards South
Year Work Category Result Ref.
2004 Sye Best Director – Telugu Nominated
2005 Chatrapathi Best Director – Telugu Nominated
2006 Vikramarkudu Best Director – Telugu Nominated
2009 Magadheera Best Director – Telugu Won [79]
2012 Eega Best Director – Telugu Won [80]
2015 Baahubali: The Beginning Best Director – Telugu Won [81]
2017 Baahubali: The Conclusion Best Director – Telugu Won [82]
Nandi Awards (Andhra Pradesh State Film Awards)
Year Work Category Result Ref.
2009 Magadheera Best Director Won [83]
2012 Eega Best Director Won [84]
Best Screenplay Writer Won
2014 N/A BN Reddy National Award Won [85]
2015 Baahubali: The Beginning Best Director Won [86]
IIFA Utsavam
Year Work Category Result Ref.
2015 Baahubali: The Beginning Best Director (Tamil) Nominated
Best Director (Telugu) Won [87]
South Indian International Movie Awards
Year Work Category Result Ref.
2012 Eega Best Director (Telugu) Nominated
2015 Baahubali: The Beginning Best Director (Telugu) Won [88]
2017 Baahubali: The Conclusion Best Director (Telugu) Won [89]
CineMAA Awards
Year Work Category Result Ref.
2009 Magadheera Best Director Won
2015 Baahubali: The Beginning Best Director Won [90]

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