October 10. It’s S S Rajamouli’s birthday and suddenly I realize that it’s been more than two years since I met him first. Ever since he made his debut as a director, he’s been one of the few filmmakers whom I have always admired irrespective of the films he has made. He makes movies that are fun, exciting and engrossing. And when someone can do that for over 10 years, without a glitch, deserves a pat on the back.

Back in 2009, I was completely clueless about what turn my life was going to take after the Satyam Fiasco. I had just begun to write about Telugu cinema on my blog and the first couple of blogs had got decent response from my friends. Then in June, 2009, Satyam sent me on a sabbatical for six months. Fortunately I went to Singapore and Malaysia along with my friends for a week in July and that really helped me to contemplate on what I should do over the next few months. I had got addicted to writing and watching films and few days after my return from Singapore, S S Rajamouli’s Magadheera had released.

The hype surrounding this film was so huge that tickets were sold for almost a week. I wanted to desperately watch the film on day one but I couldn’t get a ticket. A friend of mine happened to know someone at Bramarambha Theatre, near JNTU and I was told to reach the theatre before 8:00AM to collect the ticket. After a long time, I woke up at 6:00 AM and travelled 20 kms so that I could go collect a movie ticket for the 2:30 PM show. Hundreds of people were eagerly waiting for the ‘box’ to arrive and I couldn’t convince the manager that I am the same guy whom my friend had told him about. After almost an hour, he finally agreed to give me a ticket (originally priced at Rs 300) for Rs 50, thanks to couple of phone calls. Meanwhile, the box had arrived and the chaos began. I was pushed aside and the manager was nowhere to be seen, but I couldn’t go back because I wanted to watch the film on day one. Finally, at 9:30 AM this manager sent another guy to hand over the ticket to me; however it turned out that I had to wait for another hour, during which this guy went around to meet his friends, before I got my ticket. Few hours later, the fans show got over and the celebration had already begun. Everyone had only one thing to say – It’s a blockbuster. I saw the film and I loved it.

Over the next few days, I watched almost every interview of S S Rajamouli, Rama Rajamouli, MM Keeravani, Senthil and other cast & crew members. Their passion for making this epic drama was quite evident and my respect for their effort, especially S S Rajamouli’s grew manifold. Little did I know that in less than three months after the film’s release I would have an opportunity to interview the man himself, S S Rajamouli.

In mid-September, 2009 I joined 123telugu.com as a content writer. It was my first stint at writing for a popular film website. Few days after I joined the website, I was given my first interview assignment. I was going to interview S S Rajamouli. Back then, Shyam Prasad Reddy (producer – Arundhati) was producing a dance reality show, Dhee-2 and S S Rajamouli was going to be the Chief Guest for the final. I was asked to meet and interview him in Ramoji Film City. I woke up at 5:30 to join the production crew who were going to RFC that day. At 7:00 AM, when I finally reached RFC, Shyam Prasad Reddy told me that he was expecting Rajamouli to arrive at 6:30 PM and I had the choice of either going back to office or hanging in there all day.  I decided to hang in there and spent the whole day thinking about what I am going to ask Rajamouli in those 10 minutes later that day. Here’s the thing about being on the set of a TV Show. It’s incredibly boring…I mean a lot of activity keeps happening all day long, but if you are a spectator, it is bound to leave you clueless. I chose not to watch the shooting of the dance reality show and spent the next eight hours outside under a tent watching people go in and out. Finally, at around 7:00 PM, the director had arrived. He was more of a star on the set and everyone wanted to get a snap with him. I waited for my turn. After a while, my patience ran out and I almost barged into the conversation which Rajamouli and Shyam Prasad Reddy were having. It was my third week at work and I hadn’t learnt the basic etiquette of the film industry. I was promptly asked to wait till further notice. So, I stepped outside and waited for another couple of hours. By then, the show had got over and he (Rajamouli) was about to leave. This time I was in no mood to relent and stood at some distance as Shyam and Rajamouli were discussing something for a very long time. And then I was formally introduced to Rajamouli and finally got my 10 minutes with the man everyone was going gaga about in the state.

It was my first ever interview and I was underprepared. My palms had begun to sweat and I didn’t rehearse my questions which I had noted down on a piece of paper. When you don’t make eye-contact for most part of the interview, you lose control over yourself and the interview. The questions weren’t good enough and the biggest problem was Rajamouli had answered almost all of them in several other interviews. He appeared to be quite uninterested with my questions and I remember he even said, “I have already answered this question so many times.” The meeting ended sooner than I thought but it didn’t matter, because I had met one of my favourite filmmakers in contemporary Telugu cinema. And this incident was all I could talk about for almost a week with my friends in Bangalore, Hyderabad and the US.

After this, my brief encounter with S S Rajamouli happened on Twitter when he began tweeting actively and I was more than pleased that he actually remembered me from our meeting. Lots of things had changed over the next few months. I had begun writing for Southscope’s website and then joined the magazine in June. Then in August, 2010 S S Rajamouli’s Maryada Ramanna was about to release. I met him at a press conference to ask for an interview for Southscope. He agreed to meet but also told me that he might be extremely busy with post-production and I was told to keep in touch with his wife, Rama Rajamouli, who’s also a designer for most of his films. A week later, when I went to meet him, I was told that he and M M Keeravani (music director) were extremely busy with post-production. So, I ended up meeting the rest of his family – Rama, Karthikeya (Rajamouli’s son) and Mayooka (daughter). Making films is a family affair for Rajamouli. His wife helps him in designing the costumes, his son takes a lot of interest in cinematographer and he’ll probably go on to become a director in future and his daughter is always there with them, if she’s not in school. And there’s M M Keeravani, Kanchi and Kalyani Malik who are all members of his family and frequently collaborate with him for most of his films.

Here’s something I have learnt over the past couple of years – Never judge a person based on the films he makes. Rajamouli’s films have everything you expect from an action entertainer. The adrenaline of watching the action episodes is what I love the most. However, it’s highly unlikely that he’s anything like the characters he creates in most of his films. Rama Rajamouli once told me that he loves movies way too much and she has learnt to live with that. Even his kids understand that he has to spend long hours making movies. But Rajamouli loves his family a lot and loves spending most of his time with his kids when he’s not on the sets. The family’s favourite pastime is going on long drives and short vacations every now and then. When it comes to work, he’s a maniac. Films are the only thing he can think about. I have never seen him on the sets of his films but if those end title sequence of most of his films are anything to go by, he enacts each and every scene himself so that the actors do exactly what he tells them to do. Maybe he should consider doing cameos in his films; he’ll make a very good actor.

Two years since my rendezvous with Rajamouli, a lot of things have changed. I may have met him very few times but I have learnt to be more confident even while facing the person you have admired for more than 10 years. The initial awe has been replaced by immense respect. It’s possible that I may not like some of the films that he’ll make in future but his passion, sheer dedication and energy he puts in will continue to amaze me.

Like he once told me, “I don’t give any advice to anyone, but if you insist, I’ll say – Always make films which you want to make.” Perhaps, the secret of his success lies in those eight words. And I hope he continues to do what he believes in.

Amen.

By,

Hemanth

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