S. S. Rajamouli
Koduri Srisaila Sri Rajamouli (Telugu pronunciation: [ɾaːdʒamaʊ̯ɭi]; born 10 October 1973),[3] professionally known as S. S. Rajamouli, is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Telugu cinema.[4] He is best known for his works in high fantasy, and period films such as Magadheera (2009) featured at the American Fantastic Fest; Eega (2012) winning Most Original Film at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival; Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) nominated for American Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film; Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017) winning the American Saturn Award for Best International Film, and the Australian Telstra People’s Choice Award.[5][6][7] The Baahubali franchise became the highest-grossing Indian film series of all time, with a gross of approximately ₹2,500 crore (US$330 million).[8][9][10][11]
His other works include the action films Sye and Vikramarkudu featured at the 37th International Film Festival of India in the mainstream section.[12] Maryada Ramanna, Vikramarkudu and Chatrapathi were remade in various Indian languages, with successful reviews.[13][14] Rajamouli has garnered various honours including three National Film Awards, four Filmfare Awards South, five state Nandi Awards, the IIFA Award, two SIIMA Awards, the Star World India, “Entertainer of The Year” in 2012, and the “CNN-News18 Indian of the Year in Entertainment” for 2015.[15][16][17] In 2016, he was honoured with the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian honor for his contributions towards the field of Art.[18]
Rajamouli started directing Telugu soap operas on ETV, under the guidance of K. Raghavendra Rao. Later on, he directed the TV series Santhi Nivasam, produced by K. Raghavendra Rao. His first shot at Telugu films was Student No.1, with Jr. NTR in 2001. It took two years for Rajamouli to come up with his second film Simhadri. In the two-year gap between Student No.1 and Simhadri, Rajamouli planned his first mythological film with Malayalam actor Mohanlal, but the film eventually got shelved.[28] In 2015, Assistant art director Manu Jagath, who later worked as the art director for Baahubali, released several sketches he had drawn for the shelved Mohanlal project.[29] Rajamouli’s third film was Sye, with actors Nithin and Genelia D’Souza. It was a first-of-its-kind film in Tollywood, in that it was based on a rugby game. This film was also the first instance where Rajamouli collaborated with K. K. Senthil Kumar.[30] His next was Chatrapathi, with the music of M. M. Keeravani and cinematography by Senthil Kumar.
