Credits: What to Watch?
Leap of Faith
Back in 2006, Rajamouli is the hottest commercial director in the market. He could have all the dates of the star heroes one after the another. He could have played it safe and made money making safe ventures. But he chose to make Yamadonga on a grand scale. Those kind of socio fantasy films are not being made in that decade. Tollywood in the old days was very popular producing grand visual spectacles but the trend got washed out due to a lot of reasons. He told in an interview he got Asia’s biggest room to build ‘Yamaloka’ set and people were expecting his team to fill even half of that room. But by the end of construction, people were shocked to see the set utilising the full space given to it. Yamadonga was a success but not a groundbreaking one. Most people would assume that No one would put their time and effort in this big scale films which have a huge risk involved. But Rajamouli had another ideas.
He made Magadheera next turning Yamadonga as a stepping stone. It’s even bigger than his previous film. It’s an instant blockbuster. The 100 men fight sequence made waves across the south and the name Rajamouli got bigger. He finally made a bigger name than his contemporaries. A name big enough to stand among stars who are crowd pullers. But that was not proven yet. All are waiting for his next big scale venture but yet again he had other ideas.
He announced a project with Sunil as a lead with a smaller budget. All thought he could use a breather amid all the big spectacles. But he delivered his most tension filled, nail baiting film yet. There was never any lenience infact he was firing on all cylinders. At this point of time, people believed that the brand “an SS Rajamouli film” never disappoints. All the industry is waiting for his announcement. And he announced his next film “Eega”. 90 percent of people thought success got to his head and He was not thinking clearly. But the man had a clear vision on what he wanted to do. He had some experience with the VFX from making Yamadonga and Magadheera. And production of that film went for 18 months if I’m not mistaken. People were sceptical and some people were waiting for him to fail. He again delivered. People were screaming their lungs out in the interval. He was not satisfied with that success. He announced Bahubali with a budget that was not invested before in Telugu films.
People got hyped for Bahubali from Day 1. But the Industry never gave its approval. It got average talk on its first day but later went on to be an industry hit. Not only that but it broke its way into Hindi market and minted over 100 crores. Seeing it’s gigantic success, both Industry and people hailed Rajamouli as the biggest telugu filmmaker. The sequel got even bigger response and broke all existing records at every corner of India. Bollywood which was boasting of its 800 crores successes suddenly felt dwarfed by Bahubali’s 1800 crores roar. He became India’s biggest Filmmaker. Then he went on make RRR. He used a combination of practical and visual effects to make the film look more tangible than his previous ones. The editing was on point. His desire for creating action spectacles grew more bigger. And the film earned 1000 crore post pandemic. And it took internet by a storm when it is released on Netflix. All the international audience showered their love on the film.
And Here’s a thing, All the success he now enjoys is a result of his risks. At every point of his career, he secured funding for his next on the back of his track record, trusted himself and took a leap of faith. Nothing was given to him. And he knows the financial side of the film more than any other Indian filmmaker IMO. He is the biggest salesman when it comes it his films. He sells his every film like his first one. Even after securing the biggest brand, he goes to each and every interview with his team and makes sure the film does well. Last night, I was watching the Netflix interview with Rajamouli and Russo brothers. Russo brothers are talking about how they mould their films about to suit the global audience. And Rajamouli was talking about how he makes films with ideas which excite him, which connect to him. I was pleasantly surprised with Rajamouli sounding more passionate and reasonable than Russos.
As long as he continues this way, SS Rajamouli will keep breaking new markets and grow bigger and bigger.
