Working with stars is quite easy for me: Rajamouli

Known for his penchant for making larger-than-life movies, the inimitable SS Rajamouli is now readying his next offering for the big screen — RRR.
Rajamouli, who even turned a fly into a hero in Eega/Makkhi, made the big screen even bigger with the Baahubali series. The filmmaker attributes his fascination for the big canvas for his love for the cinemas since he was a child.

“In our childhood, going to a cinema hall was a very big thing. We were only allowed to go for one film every month. I come from a very small town and we could smell cigarettes and other noxious things at the theatre. But none of it bothered us. I still remember the excitement of sitting in the theatre with the lights off. It never leaves you. I believe that my audiences would also want that. I don’t want the excitement to go down. That drives me,” he shares.

Rajamouli and Ajay Devgn on the sets of RRR

The filmmaker says, “If I show anger in my film, I want my audience to feel the anger. When I make them laugh, I want them to laugh to the maximum. And if I project wonder, I want them to wonder to the fullest. That is the reason I make films for the big screen.”

“I have always made films for theatres. I want people to come and see and interact with each other and enjoy the film together in the cinemas. That is what I have learnt from my childhood,” he says. Rajamouli feels cinemas will continue to flourish. “Everything can co-exist. If cinemas could co-exist with television since the 90s, they can co-exist with OTT too,” the director avers.

Rajamouli does not allow himself to succumb to marketing needs and prefers to be known as a storyteller. When I made Baahubali, the story itself had two parts. But the RRR story is contained in one film. I don't believe in making any film with more than one part. It is a very dishonest way of making films,” he says.

 

RRR sees stars from Tollywood and Bollywood sharing screen space. It also sees the reunion of Ajay Devgn with Rajamouli after Makkhi which was voiced by Devgn in Hindi.

Alia Bhatt poses with Rajamouli on the sets of the film

“Working with stars is quite easy for me. They have been through professionals and have learnt their lines well. Ajay Devgn for instance never went into his vanity van during the shooting. He would sit in the periphery of the shot and watch me. If I ever looked at him, he would walk up to me and ask me, ‘Do you want me sir?’” says the director.

“As for Alia, she was constantly harassing the direction department to get her lines and her diction right. They have been absolute professionals. Charan and Tarak are my friends - my brothers actually. I have known them for two decades and there was no difficulty in working with them.”

The acclaimed auteur however reveals that working during the pandemic had its challenges. “Because of various things like the stress on wearing masks and social distancing and making people aware of protocols I could manage only around 15-20 shots in a day rather than 20-25,” he says.

A teaser of the film was screened for select media persons in Mumbai.