Filmmaker SS Rajamouli is a phenomenon and it’s no exaggeration that he’s considered one of the best commercial cinema directors of the country. Be it Baahubali or Eega (Makkhi), he has managed to impress and make an impact irrespective of the scale of his film and has pushed the envelope with each film. As Rajamouli turns 46, we take a look at five of his best films.
Sye
Nithiin starrer Sye is one of the most underrated works of Rajamouli. Imagine Lagaan in a college backdrop but replace cricket with rugby and you have Sye, a film that introduced Telugu audiences to rugby and made the viewing experience more exhilarating than anyone can imagine. A group of students of a local college lock horns with a mafia leader over a piece of land. Instead of taking the route of violence, they decided to challenge each other in a match of rugby and the winner takes over the land. The film extracted the best out of Nithiin and Pradeep Rawat, who was menacing as the antagonist.
Vikramarkudu
Vikramakudu was remade in Hindi as Rowdy Rathore.
With Vikramarkudu, which featured Ravi Teja in dual roles, Rajamouli set the benchmark very high for cop-based stories in commercial cinema. As an uptight, duty-fearing police officer, Ravi Teja was terrific as Vikram Rathore, and his fiery performance still remains as one of his best in his career. Irrespective of who he worked with, Rajamouli always managed to bring out their best and it was no different this time when he teamed up with Ravi Teja for the first time. The interval action block and another scene where Ravi Teja tells his superior how he desires to die as a police officer will go down as one of the best sequences in mainstream Telugu cinema.
Magadheera
Magadheera starred Ram Charan and Kajal Aggarwal in lead roles.
A story of love intertwined with reincarnation made Magadheera not just another commercial cinema. It took the popular tropes of commercial cinema and used it effectively in a period drama set up for a crucial portion of the film which looked epic on the big screen. The film turned Ram Charan into a star and also showcased he’s no ordinary star kid but one with talent and great screen presence. It takes guts do something as big as Magadheera a decade ago and Rajamouli proved everybody wrong with his vision.
Eega
Eega (Makkhi): The revenge of a house fly.
To envision a film with a housefly in the titular role and make it accessible for the masses requires more than just vision. Rajamouli proved to the world that he doesn’t need stars to make films that will be lapped up by the masses, and that’s exactly why he made Eega. With the aid of technology and his vision, he made a film out of this simple plot point – what if a man reborn as a house fly wants to take revenge on his killer? Eega was not just experimental, but it was unbelievably entertaining and that’s what makes Rajamouli one of the finest filmmakers with a better understanding of what our masses will love and appreciate.
Baahubali series
Baahubali series: The two films that made Rajamouli a household name across India.
We have spoken a lot about the money that was invested into making the Baahubali films. But what really needs to be talked about is one man’s vision to erect a project on this scale and that’s none other than Rajamouli. By making Baahubali, Rajamouli has inspired so many filmmakers to go big with their projects and it has paved way to projects like KGF and Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy. Recently, Chiranjeevi publicly admitted that if not for Baahubali and Rajamouli, they’d never have gathered the courage to make Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy.
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