SS Rajamouli discussed how his recent film RRR crossed borders and became a real word-of-mouth hit in the West. Despite foreign interest in him, he hopes to keep his storytelling style and not adapt it to appeal to an international audience. Rajamouli spoke with the press at the ongoing Toronto International Film Festival, as RRR’s Oscar campaign gets underway.
Rajamouli, who was described as a “pioneer” by the moderator, grinned and stated that he is still in the “nascent” stage of his career as a director. He stated that after the Baahubali films performed well in Japan, he decided to focus on the Eastern side of the world. “Never, ever did I expect RRR to do well with the Western audiences,” he stated.
RRR, a fictionalised depiction of two independence fighters crossing paths and joining arms against the British, was a big theatrical blockbuster in India before gaining a devoted fan base in the United States, thanks to a Netflix release. It also received support from filmmakers including Scott Derrickson, Edgar Wright, and James Gunn.
“When RRR released, and I started getting responses one by one, I thought, ‘OK, maybe there are a few’. But the few went into hundreds, the hundreds went into thousands… Story writers, directors, critics, people from different fields were talking highly about RRR. I realised something I never knew about my films,” he stated. “I thought the sensibilities are different, but I realised that the sensibilities can also be similar. I am still trying to understand, to be very frank.”
RRR, starring Jr NTR and Ram Charan, is expected to generate Oscar hype during the 2019 awards season, albeit whether or not it is chosen as India’s official entry will be determined. Regardless, it will be able to compete in a variety of other categories than Best International Film.
According to a recent Los Angeles Times piece, the film’s awards campaign will begin this month. Aside from TIFF, Rajamouli will attend a month-long retrospective of his works at LA’s Beyond Fest. While in Los Angeles, Rajamouli will also introduce a screening of one of his favourite films, Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights.
Major Hollywood studios will also be lining up to meet with the filmmaker during his stay in Hollywood. Rajamouli is currently working on an action-adventure film starring Mahesh Babu.
