No one can ever create art, even on a piece of paper, as they have envisioned it in their mind.
S. S. Rajamouli
I am always in self-doubt... every moment of my filmmaking. I am supremely confident when the story is being written and everything is in our head. But the moment we get into the filmmaking, I start doubting myself - from the camera angle to the re-recording to getting the actors to do their shots.
I don't believe in luck. Everything is our doing or undoing. If something doesn't come out right, then as a director, you have to take full responsibility. You can't just say, 'No, I gave this job to the music supervisor. They promised me they would do it, and they didn't do it.' You can't blame anyone else.
'Mayabazar' was the film I immensely loved as a kid. Only when I became a filmmaker about 20 years later did I realise its technical marvel and what a great epic it was. I and my visual effects supervisor, while making 'Yamadonga,' took two days to understand the magnification shot of Ghatothkatcha's persona.
Any hit films, impact-creating films, leave their mark on the industry. It is in human nature to try to follow something that is creating an impact.
People like to see Ravi Teja as a vibrant, massy character. We needed to do something more. So I gave him the extra flavour of the cop character and high emotions. And Ravi did a good job.
If people get inspired by 'Baahubali' as a film, and they realize they can make a big film or a historical film which has good drama and good visuals, if they realize there are good stories to tell here, then it is good.
I keep my options open about my next story, there will always be those vague discussions at home.
I can't analyse the secret of success. In my style of working, I stick to the basics and make stories revolving around the hero.
As a film enthusiast and a lover of stories, I have read biblical stories and I've seen biblical films with the same zeal as I have read and seen my own country's stories. Most of the time, the creator doesn't know where he gets his inspiration from.
After my second film, 'Simhadri,' which was a very big hit, I made 'Sye,' a small college movie with a rugby union backdrop.
I have huge respect for Sridevi ji as a flag-bearer of the southern film industries in Mumbai for many years. I wish her all the best. And I wish 'Mom' a big success, as the trailer looks very intriguing and promising.
I wanted to complete 'Maryada Ramanna' in a short time, but it took me almost a year, and now 'Eega' took double the time, but in the end, it was worth it.
I would say the most important aspect of direction is that you, as a director, and your producer need to be on the same page, the same line of thinking. If that doesn't happen in the beginning of the film, then that will show in the final product 100 percent.
No director can ever deliver what's on his or her mind totally, but 'Baahubali-2' is the closest I can get in executing what I had envisaged onto the celluloid.
To make a film with Rajinikanth will be a dream come true for any director, and I'm not an exception. But I always believe that it's the story that should drive you. If I come up with something like that, and if the story inspires me, I would be happy to work with him.
I don't know how it is in other industries, but as far as our industry is concerned, everybody takes their energy from the director. I myself was very exhausted, but I was acting as if I was full of energy and was pumping it into the whole team.
After the blockbuster 'Magadheera,' I made a film with comedian Sunil as the hero. If I am interested in making a film - big or small - I will go ahead and make it.
Audiences are always open to an interesting story.
150 shooting days is quite normal, which is not the case in Hollywood, as I am told. Most of the big films there are done in 70 or 80 days.
I'm well aware that I have put my actors in difficult positions because of my vision, but when they see I work for the betterment of the product, they understand the pain I put them through.
Without my family, I'm nothing. They kept me in the right place. I believe that I'm the luckiest person in the country when I'm with them.
Creating is one thing; telling the story is one thing. I see myself more as a storyteller than a story creator.
'Bahubali' is not about big budgets, big visuals, or massive marketing. If a hero, producer, and director in Bollywood can have that kind of trust, something even bigger than 'Bahubali' is possible.
I was very happy when I was doing my first two films: 'Student No.1', 'Simhadri'. I had absolutely no doubts - I would just place my camera at one point and say, 'That is the right way.'
In theory I know that if you have a universal theme and a good story told well, it will work everywhere.
In childhood, we used to read stories from the Arabian Nights. Why were we so interested when it happened somewhere in Arabia, in a different culture? Until now, we hadn't gone to the Hindi audience with a good story.
A star is different, and an actor is different. But there is an actor in every star, and they, too, look for challenging roles to satisfy the actor in them.
The consolidated appreciation that 'Eega' is the pride of the Telugu film industry is the biggest award I can get.
I think - since I was about 7 years old - that was when I was first introduced to the comics called 'Amar Chitra Katha' that are published in India. They're not about a superhero, but they encompass all the stories of India, the folklore, the mythology, everything. But most of these stories are about Indian historical figures.
If we make films only for the frontbenchers, we can't make money. Hence, we have to make it for a majority audience. As my films are mass films, I deal with emotions in raw form - they are not subtle. I don't mind being branded. That does not mean I like only those kinds of films.
I like all kinds of films; 'Bommarillu' is a favourite film. But I can't make that kind of film.
I really want to complete films in a shorter duration, but somehow it does not seem to happen.
After 'Maryada Ramanna,' I wanted to make a quick film on a shoestring budget.
I am now confident about attempting a Hindi film. I believe if you have a good story to tell, audiences will watch it.
When I was in Mumbai for the promotion of 'Makkhi,' I met Ajay Devgn, Kajol, and Shah Rukh Khan, and I wanted to meet Aamir Khan. He was shooting out of India. I also met my favourite director, Raju Hirani. All of them showered praises on 'Makkhi.'
I did work with Ajay Devgn and Kajol, who did the voiceover in 'Makkhi'. I wanted a couple with easily identifiable voices but with an image for being family-oriented. Ajay and Kajol fitted the bill. You get a good feel about them.
To be very frank, I never got very good offers from Hindi cinema until 'Eega.' Now, I'm flooded with offers.
'Bahubali' did not happen overnight. The producer Shobhu Yarlagadda, Prabhas, and I kept talking and discussing and imagining.
I am a filmmaker. My job is to make films. When something excites you - a story or characterisation - you immediately forget about everything else. You only think how to make a movie out of it. The economics come only later. You shouldn't let money dictate the kind of films you should make.
If someone makes an inroad into a new territory, a new market, people will follow their success. That way, I think we will be getting more pan-India films and not restricted to a region or a language. More and more films will come out on a bigger budget, on a larger-than-life scale.
I shoot a scene, edit it, and then, two days later, I doubt whether or not it has turned out right. I reshoot a small part of it, go back to the first edit of it, and do all sorts of things.
You go to the edit room and see one scene which has come out fantastically, and you feel the film will set records. By evening, you look at the budget figures or something that hasn't worked out and ask yourself - what if this doesn't work?
Rajinikanth is humility personified. He's a huge star in India, and people are dying to just see him on the screen.
Indian epics are full of violence, and such stories have shaped India. As filmmakers, I don't think anyone in India would tone down violence, keeping in mind the censorship.
