Over the years, Telugu cinema has been blessed with a fair sprinkling of talented directors who have boasted of the Midas touch and whose films have inevitably clicked at the box office. Names that come to mind in a flash include K Vishwanath, K Raghavendra Rao and Dasari Narayana Rao. While these veterans have more or less hung up their boots, the newcomers have not yet lived up to expectations. But there is one director who has bucked the trend in a big way and whose name in the titles is enough for films to canter away to 100-day runs. He is the shy and self-effacing S S Rajamouli, whose latest venture Eega (Naan Ee in Tamil) has just set the box office on fire.
![S S Rajamouli, director of the recent hit, 'Eega'.]( "S S Rajamouli, director of the recent hit, 'Eega'.")
Rajamouli, son of scriptwriter Vijayendra Prasad, who began his tryst with cinema quite early, first apprenticed under seasoned director Raghavendra Rao and also chanced his luck at directing teleserials before he landed the director's job for the NTR Jr-starrer, Student No 1, which became a box office hit. Since then, every film directed by Rajamouli has done well at the box office, gaining him the numero uno status in Tollywood. He has been a lucky mascot for many heroes, especially Junior NTR, who has done three films with him — Student No 1, Simhadri and Yamadonga. Prabhas, who acted in Chatrapathi, and will be a part of the director's forthcoming film, Bramharishi Vishwamithra, is another star beneficiary of the star director. However, it was the historical extravaganza Magadheera, which should rank as the magnum opus in Rajamouli's career, for, this film, starring a rank newcomer Ramcharan Teja, surpassed all expectations and broke several box office records. Among other awards, the film also won the Best Director Nandi award and the Filmfare award for Rajamouli. Rajamouli has also tasted remarkable success with films like Vikramarkudu, where he had Ravi Teja essaying the dual role of a honest cop and a small-time crook who turns vigilante. Incidentally, this film was remade by Prabhu Deva in Hindi as Rowdy Rathore. Among the latter-day Telugu films, Rajamouli's Marayada Ramanna also turned out to be a blockbuster.
Eega must rank as one of the director's biggest gambles which paid off. Rajamouli, in this Telugu/Tamil bilingual, had a housefly as the main protagonist, resurrecting the hero's character and extracting revenge for the hero's killing by the villain. The film, which not only wooed the box office in style, also won critical acclaim with its special effects. The star cast too had a major role to play in the film's success, with Kannada star 'Kicha' Sudeep cast as the villain and stealing the show. Eega, based on a story idea provided by the director's father, was the first film that Rajamouli himself scripted. Strange as it may sound, the director had decided to shelve the film as the special effects had not come up to his expectations. Eega, as expected, turned out to be a favourite with children who flocked to the theatres to watch the antics of a fly.
Although every actor in the industry would give his right arm to work with the director, Rajamouli is not enamoured by big names and confides that, for him, it is the story that demands the star and not otherwise. While his father Vijayendra Prasad pens most of his scripts, his brother M M Keeravani, a big name on the Tollywood music scene, inevitably scores the music. His wife, Rama, chips in with costume design, styling of the film, etc. Rajamouli would soon be filming Samrat for the dashing hero Mahesh Babu, whose last film Dookudu had scorched the screens. Rajamouli has been steadily consolidating his position with every film and with hits like Magadheera and Eega under his belt, he has left the competition far behind. The director has it in him to continue his fine run and live up to the expectations of his fans and the industry. Right now, he is a big fish in a small pond, but given the fact that almost all his films have either been dubbed or remade in other languages, including Hindi, the time is not far when this gifted director takes up challenging assignments in other languages as well.
Rajamouli, son of scriptwriter Vijayendra Prasad, who began his tryst with cinema quite early, first apprenticed under seasoned director Raghavendra Rao and also chanced his luck at directing teleserials before he landed the director's job for the NTR Jr-starrer, Student No 1, which became a box office hit. Since then, every film directed by Rajamouli has done well at the box office, gaining him the numero uno status in Tollywood. He has been a lucky mascot for many heroes, especially Junior NTR, who has done three films with him — Student No 1, Simhadri and Yamadonga. Prabhas, who acted in Chatrapathi, and will be a part of the director's forthcoming film, Bramharishi Vishwamithra, is another star beneficiary of the star director. However, it was the historical extravaganza Magadheera, which should rank as the magnum opus in Rajamouli's career, for, this film, starring a rank newcomer Ramcharan Teja, surpassed all expectations and broke several box office records. Among other awards, the film also won the Best Director Nandi award and the Filmfare award for Rajamouli. Rajamouli has also tasted remarkable success with films like Vikramarkudu, where he had Ravi Teja essaying the dual role of a honest cop and a small-time crook who turns vigilante. Incidentally, this film was remade by Prabhu Deva in Hindi as Rowdy Rathore. Among the latter-day Telugu films, Rajamouli's Marayada Ramanna also turned out to be a blockbuster.Eega must rank as one of the director's biggest gambles which paid off. Rajamouli, in this Telugu/Tamil bilingual, had a housefly as the main protagonist, resurrecting the hero's character and extracting revenge for the hero's killing by the villain. The film, which not only wooed the box office in style, also won critical acclaim with its special effects. The star cast too had a major role to play in the film's success, with Kannada star 'Kicha' Sudeep cast as the villain and stealing the show. Eega, based on a story idea provided by the director's father, was the first film that Rajamouli himself scripted. Strange as it may sound, the director had decided to shelve the film as the special effects had not come up to his expectations. Eega, as expected, turned out to be a favourite with children who flocked to the theatres to watch the antics of a fly.
Although every actor in the industry would give his right arm to work with the director, Rajamouli is not enamoured by big names and confides that, for him, it is the story that demands the star and not otherwise. While his father Vijayendra Prasad pens most of his scripts, his brother M M Keeravani, a big name on the Tollywood music scene, inevitably scores the music. His wife, Rama, chips in with costume design, styling of the film, etc. Rajamouli would soon be filming Samrat for the dashing hero Mahesh Babu, whose last film Dookudu had scorched the screens. Rajamouli has been steadily consolidating his position with every film and with hits like Magadheera and Eega under his belt, he has left the competition far behind. The director has it in him to continue his fine run and live up to the expectations of his fans and the industry. Right now, he is a big fish in a small pond, but given the fact that almost all his films have either been dubbed or remade in other languages, including Hindi, the time is not far when this gifted director takes up challenging assignments in other languages as well.