S. S. Rajamouli is an Indian film director and screenwriter, who has made several blockbuster movies in Telugu cinema and has received international acclaim. A National Award winning film maker, Rajamouli has been most recently conferred with the Padma Shri, India"s fourth highest civilian honour by the Government of India in 2016, for his contribution to the field of film making art.
Early Life of S. S. Rajamouli
S. S. Rajamouli, born Koduri Srisaila Sri Rajamouli on October 10, 1973, to writer-director K. V. Vijayendra Prasad in Raichur, Karnataka, completed his schooling part in his native place in Kovvur and later in Eluru, both in Andhra Pradesh. He started his career working as an assistant under director K. Raghavendra Rao, working on Telugu soap operas.
Career of S. S. Rajamouli
S. S. Rajamouli got his first opportunity to direct Telugu film "Student No. 1" under the supervision of K. Raghavendra Rao, with actor Jr. NTR (N. T. Rama Rao Jr.). It released in 2001 and was a box office success. After two years, Rajamouli delivered a blockbuster with his second movie "Simhadri". In this span, he had also planned a mythological film with Malayalam superstar Mohanlal that eventually got shelved. His third movie "Sye" was a sports drama film, first of its kind in Telugu cinema based on a rugby game. With his next flick "Chhatrapati", Rajamouli again evoked emotions amongst the audience. The film was remade in various Indian languages with successful reviews. His next venture was a social problem film "Vikramarkudu", starring actor Ravi Teja. The movie was acclaimed and screened at the International Film Festival of India in the mainstream section. It was also a big success and remade in different Indian languages, the Hindi remake being "Rowdy Rathore" directed by Prabhu Deva and featuring Akshay Kumar in the lead. He next directed socio-fantasy film "Yamadonga", which was praised by critics.
Rajamouli"s next film was the biggest Telugu movie at the time "Magadheera", released in 2009 and starring Ram Charan Teja. It became one of the biggest commercial successes in Telugu cinema and earned Rajamouli the Nandi Award for Best Director and the Filmfare Award for Best Director - Telugu in the Filmfare Awards South. His next film was a comedy thriller "Maryada Ramanna" released in 2010, which was remade in Hindi to "Son of Sardaar". He regards the film as his personal favourite among the ones he has directed. His next movie was an experimental fantasy film "Eega" released in 2012, which was tremendously successful at the box office and also garnered international critical acclaim. It was screened at L`Etrange International Film Festival in Paris and its Tamil version was screened at the 10th Chennai International Film Festival. "Eega" had garnered awards for 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. It was also screened at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, the Panorama section of the 16th Shanghai International Film Festival and the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival. The film also received the Best Art Direction award at the Fantaspoa Film Festival of Brazil. Also, it is nominated for six awards - Best Film, Best Cinematographer, Best Special Effects, Best Music Composer, Best Editor and Best Supporting Actor at the Madrid International Film Festival.
His next directorial venture was the magnum opus "Baahubali: The Beginning". The film was a humongous success, becoming the highest grossing Indian film of all time within India and the third highest grossing Indian film globally. It earned over 600 Crores INR (89 Million USD) at the box office worldwide, becoming the first South Indian film to do so and the first non-Hindi film to gross over 100 Crores INR in the dubbed Hindi version. It is the highest grossing Telugu film of all time and received wide global critical acclaim. It was screened at the Open Cinema Strand of Busan International Film Festival, Indian Film Festival The Hague, Sitges Film Festival in Spain, Utopiales Film Festival in France, Golden Horse Film Festival in Taipei, Taiwan, Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia, L`Etrange International Film Festival in Paris, Five Flavours Film Festival in Poland and Hawaii International Film Festival in Honolulu. The making of the epic historical film was featured in British Broadcasting Corporation`s (BBC) documentary on 100 Years of Indian cinema, directed by Sanjeev Bhaskar. The film was shot using Arri Alexa XT camera marking Rajamouli`s first film using digital camera.
His recent venture is the very sequel to "Baahubali: The Beginning", titled "Baahubali: The Conclusion" slated for an April 2017 worldwide release. The director has stated that the second part to the series will be more emotional, having a larger scale of grandeur and more action sequences than the first instalment.
Filmography of S. S. Rajamouli
S. S. Rajamouli has written and directed the films enlisted hereunder along with their respective years of release.
| Year | Film | Language |
| 2001 | Student No.1 | Telugu |
| 2003 | Simhadri | Telugu |
| 2004 | Sye | Telugu |
| 2005 | Chatrapathi | Telugu |
| 2006 | Vikramarkudu | Telugu |
| 2007 | Yamadonga | Telugu |
| 2009 | Magadheera | Telugu |
| 2010 | Maryada Ramanna | Telugu |
| 2011 | Rajanna (Writer) | Telugu |
| 2012 | Eega | Telugu, Tamil |
| 2015 | Baahubali: The Beginning | Telugu, Tamil |
| 2017 | Baahubali: The Conclusion | Telugu, Tamil |