S.S. Rajamouli; The Mega Direction & the bridge between Hollywood, Bollywood & Tollywood!
Rajamouli is one of the celebrated directors of the Indian film industry. He spent his childhood moving between Kovvur, Andhra Pradesh and Eluru, Andhra Pradesh due to his father’s job.
He completed his first year of intermediate studies in Eluru and the second year in Kovvur. With a background in film from his father, who is a renowned writer and producer, Rajamouli pursued a career in the film industry.
Rajamouli began his career in the film industry as an apprentice. He worked for six months under K.V.Rao an eminent film editor. After working at a Chennai-based recording theatre for a few days, he began assisting his father.
He shifted from Chennai to Hyderabad to fulfil this aim and started working with Gunnam Gangaraju. During this phase, he understood the practical aspect of making films and went on to direct a few commercials with social messages. He made his first earnings through these commercials.
Rajamouli’s tryst with success continued with his third movie Challenge 2012 This sports film boosted the popularity of Rugby among the masses and won him four Nandi awards.
Magadheera won nine Nandi Awards, six Filmfare Awards South, and the National Award for Best Special Effects and Best Choreography at the 57th National Film Awards. The film was dubbed into Tamil, Malayalam, and even Japanese. Maryada Ramanna also won four Nandi Awards.
His next directorial venture was Aega 2012. A fantasy action genre movie, it received critical acclaim. Commercially, it became one of the highest-grossing Telugu movies of all time. The film won various awards, including two National Film Awards and five South Filmfare Awards.
Rajamouli’s career attained new heights of success with Baahubali ; The Beginning 2015. This epic action film became the highest revenue-generating Indian movie of all time in the country. It was screened at various international film festivals and won several awards, including the National Film Award for Best Feature Film.
With Baahubali-2; The Conclusion (2017), he delivered another box-office blockbuster. It was the first-ever Indian movie to generate over Rs. 1,000 crores and was completed in 10 days. Made at a budget of Rs. 250 crores, it became the highest-grossing movie in India. The film garnered positive reviews from critics and won three National Awards and the Saturn Award for Best International Film.
In 2022, Rajamouli’s next directorial venture RRR 2022 was released. It got positive reviews from critics, particularly for the screenplay by Rajamouli. The movie earned Rs. 1200 crores worldwide and set many new records at the box office for an Indian movie. RRR also won the Best Song for Naatu Naatu at Golden Globes 2023. RRR was also nominated for best original song at 2023 Academy Awards in the original song category.
Rajamouli has been the recipient of many awards and honours. These include three National Film Awards, two Saturn Awards, a New York Film Critics Circle award, four Filmfare Awards South, a Critics’ Choice Movie Award, and five Nandi Awards.
In 2015, he received the CNN-News18 Indian of the Year award in Entertainment. His contributions in the field of Art earned him the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian honor in India.
Rajamouli adopted Karthikeya, born to his wife in her previous marriage and also has an adopted daughter named Mayookha.