The intention behind the 74-minute film is quite transparent—how did a director, who predominantly made films catered to a Telugu audience, transform into a global phenomenon?
Modern Masters: SS Rajamouli is a Netflix documentary based on the biography of 'RRR' filmmaker Rajamouli. (Screengrab)
Borrowing a leaf from Mahesh Babu’s popular dialogue in Businessman (2012), it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say—that SS Rajamouli isn’t a name, but a brand. Today, he’s addressed as the filmmaker who dreamed the impossible, a visionary, a storyteller par excellence and the man, who engineered Telugu cinema’s first Oscar win (with the 2022 action-adventure film, RRR).
Modern Masters: SS Rajamouli, helmed by Raghav Khanna, is a timely documentary, offering a peek into the man and his pathbreaking directorial triumphs. The intention behind the 74-minute film is quite transparent—how did a director, who predominantly made films catered to a Telugu audience, transform into a global phenomenon?
While Modern Masters: SS Rajamouli does a fair assessment of what distinguishes the Raichur-born from his industry peers, it also discusses the various life experiences and the belief systems that define him as a filmmaker. It taps into his fascination for storytelling through his younger years, his eye for translating the script onto the screen, the influence of his father’s early failures and his atheist leanings.
With every minute detail of his directorial journey already being documented across various forms of media, the biggest takeaway from the documentary remains the discovery of the human side of SS Rajamouli. You see him as a mature partner who’s not so romantic, a father who obsesses over holiday itineraries, a lazy man back home who enjoys a good game of cricket.
The documentary crisply uncovers SS Rajamouli’s initial interest in cinema, how he helped write scenes for his father and was later not happy with the way they were visualised. ‘I can do a better job at bringing them to life’ was what a young Rajamouli believed, as he transitioned from directing political campaign ads for TDP to television serials to landing his first feature film, Student No: 1 (2001).
Legendary filmmaker and tour guide 🤝
Modern Masters: S.S. Rajamouli, coming on 2 August, only on Netflix. @ssrajamouli @NetflixIndia @ApplauseSocial #FilmCompanion #FilmCompanionStudios@FCompanionSouth @anupamachopra @nairsameer @deepaksegal @raghavkhanna24 #TanviAjinkya… pic.twitter.com/LPebwMKgjs— Film Companion Studios (@FilmCompanion) August 1, 2024
Rajamouli vividly recollects his first day as a director, when he masked his nervousness by yelling at everyone on the set to assert that he was the boss man. Even many years later when Ram Charan discusses RRR, you realise Rajamouli could be as temperamental (for a different reason)—where he kept throwing mics out of frustration on set and how Ram wished they weren’t on his radar.
It’s rather obvious that Rajamouli wasn’t particularly proud of his first film (Student No: 1) and how he treated the project like a student obeying his master (director K Raghavendra Rao). ‘The 2003 action drama, Simhadri (his second project) was the film I wanted to make,’ he says while discussing the origins of the famous ‘An SS Rajamouli Film’ stamp in the end credits.
There’s impressive detailing around Simhadri, where a folk song is used in the background of an action sequence (a popular trope today) and the makers feared ridicule. Disappointingly enough (probably for the lack of time?), you don’t get to hear enough backstories from Rajamouli’s pre-Magadheera (2009) phase where he churned out blockbusters like Sye (2004), Vikramarkudu (2006), Chatrapathi (2005) and Yama Donga (2007).
It’s also evident that Rajamouli was a different filmmaker from Magadheera—where he had an enviable track record and earned a producer’s trust to mount his magnum opuses at a surreal scale. What else could explain their trust in a story about a fly’s quest for revenge in Eega (2012)? Or how he chucked out months of VFX work for the film to envision a better product?
His career trajectory from Baahubali (2015, 2017) to RRR, where he kept raising the stakes with every project and pushed his limits amidst unprecedented expectations makes for interesting viewing. The portions focusing on the early mixed reactions for Baahubali in Telugu states (in contrast to the Hindi version), Rajamouli’s concern for his producer Shobu Yarlagadda, leave a certain lump in your throat.
Even as the scale of Rajamouli’s projects changed over time, the documentary traces his core ideals haven’t been tampered with. The director concurs with MM Keeravaani’s words that ‘filmmaking is like making upma’—where his dad V Vijayendra Prasad makes the upma and that his speciality is adding cashew nuts (introduction scenes, the heroism, action) to ensure a ‘crunchy’ experience.
His idea, primarily, is to tell a good story through a larger-than-life protagonist and counter him with a charismatic villain. And as a director, you realise he’s a taskmaster more loyal to the product than to his lead stars. Jr NTR points out Rajamouli doesn’t believe in empathy at all and the latter agrees—he just doesn’t want anything to come between him and the shot he has in his mind.
Rajamouli admits his family—from his son Karthikeya to wife Rama Rajamouli to brother MM Keeravani, sister-in-law Valli, cousin SS Kanchi to father V Vijayendra Prasad and others—who also comprise his crew, is his biggest support system. Prabhas’s anecdote about nearly 20-30 of his family members chatting away in a not-so-big flat says a thing or two about Rajamouli, the family man.
Prabhas in ‘Baahubali’. (X)
Modern Masters: SS Rajamouli also holds a mirror to his willingness to learn from his mistakes and his consistent attempt to widen his audience base with every story. When Anupama Chopra points out the controversy around his casteist beliefs and the absence of consent with Avantika’s character in Baahubali, you sense Rajamouli hasn’t made peace with his critics yet.
The documentary makers trot around the globe with Rajamouli from his Hyderabad residence to Hollywood to Japan, interacting with some of his illustrious collaborators—Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Ram Charan, Jr NTR, Karan Johar (in addition to his family members—Karthikeya, Keeravaani, Rama Rajamouli, V Vijayendra Prasad, to name a few).
With Rajamouli, a documentary can never feel enough—you want something more, just like his films. Perhaps, it could’ve been done with a journalistic eye and a segment around the apparent plagiarism in his films. Or a question on his learnings from the stint under K Raghavendra Rao? Or what was it like to make Maryada Ramanna (2010) right after Magadheera’s monumental success? Or why is he credited as a marketed genius more than a master storyteller?
Modern Masters: SS Rajamouli may not tell you what you already didn’t know about the brain behind Baahubali and RRR, but serves as a compelling highlights package of his eventful journey. And it’s quite thoughtful of him to credit Satyajit Ray and Mani Ratnam for laying the path for his growth. Slick, precise and well-shot, the documentary is a feast for a film enthusiast.
(Views expressed here are personal)
(Edited by S Subhakeerthana)
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