S. S. Rajamouli

Rajamouli started directing Telugu soap operas on Eenadu Television, under the guidance of K. Raghavendra Rao. Later on, he directed Santhi Nivasam TV Series which was produced by K. Raghavendra Rao.[18] 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 movie 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.[20] 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.[21] Rajamouli's third movie was Sye, with actors Nithin and Genelia D'Souza. It was a first-of-its-kind movie in Tollywood, in that it was based on a rugby game. This movie was also the first instance where Rajamouli collaborated with K. K. Senthil Kumar.[22] His next was Chatrapathi, with the music of M. M. Keeravani and cinematography by Senthil Kumar.

In his next stint Vikramarkudu, Rajamouli worked with Ravi Teja. The movie was a big success and was remade into Hindi as Rowdy Rathore by Prabhu Deva, with Akshay Kumar in the lead, into Tamil as Siruthai, and in Kannada as Veera Madakari by ace actor Sudeep.[23] He then directed Yamadonga, a socio-fantasy film praised by critics. Next was the fantasy-action film Magadheera, starring Ram Charan and Kajal Aggarwal. Magadheera became one of the biggest commercial successes in Telugu Cinema and was the highest-grossing Telugu movie at the end of its theatrical run. For Magadheera, Rajamouli won the Nandi Award for Best Director and Filmfare Award for Best Director – Telugu for the film. This film also won the National Film Award for Best Choreography[24], and launched the leads into stardom. His action comedy film Maryada Ramanna (2010) was remade in Hindi as Son of Sardar.[25][26] In one of the popular MAA TV shows, Mee Star, Rajamouli said that Maryada Ramanna is his personal favourite movie among all the movies he has directed.[27]

Ajay Devgan, Nani and Rajamouli during the special screening of Makkhi-(Hindi dubbed version of Eega (2012)

Anushka Shetty, Tamannaah Bhatia, Rajamouli, Karan Johar, Prabhas, Rana Daggubati at the trailer launch of the Hindi version of Baahubali 2: The Conclusion

Rajamouli's 2012 action-fantasy film Eega was screened to critical acclaim at L'Étrange Film Festival.[28][29][30] The Tamil version Naan Ee was screened at the 10th Chennai International Film Festival.[31][32] The Telugu version has also garnered awards for the Most Original Film, Best Special Effects, Best Comedy, Best Fights, Best Film to Watch with a Crowd, Best Editing, Best Villain and Best Hero at the 8th annual Toronto After Dark Film Festival.[33] The Telugu version was also screened the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, the Panorama section of the 16th Shanghai International Film Festival and Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival.[34][35][36] The film has received Best art direction award at the Fantaspoa film festival of Brazil.[37] Also, it has been nominated for six award including Best film, Best Cinematographer, Best Special effects, Best Music Composer, Best Editor and Best supporting Actor for the Madrid International Film Festival.[38]

In 2015, he directed the epic action film Baahubali: The Beginning, which became the second Global highest grossing Indian film of all time, and the highest grossing Indian film of all time within India.[39][40][41][42] The making of the epic film was featured in BBC's documentary on 100 Years of Indian cinema, directed by Sanjeev Bhaskar.[43][44][45] The film was shot using Arri Alexa XT camera, marking Rajamouli's first film using digital camera.[46][47] Rajamouli's work was cited by The Hollywood Reporter, The Guardian and The Huffington Post.[48][49] The film was Nominated in four categories at the 42nd Saturn Awards of the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films in Los Angeles, USA.[50]

Baahubali: The Beginning was screened at the Open Cinema Strand of Busan International Film Festival, Indian Film Festival The Hague,[51] Sitges Film Festival in Spain,[52] Utopiales Film Festival in France,[53] Golden Horse Film Festival in Taipei, Taiwan,[54] Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia,[55] L'Etrange International Film Festival in Paris,[56] Five Flavours Film Festival in Poland,[57] Hawaii International Film Festival in Honolulu, Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival in Brussels, Belgium,[58][59] and the Cannes Film Festival.[60][61] The part II - Baahubali 2: The Conclusion was premiered at the British Film Institute,[6] and was the inaugural feature film at the 39th Moscow International Film Festival.[62][63][2]