RRR director SS Rajamouli: I dream of a day when we have one big film industry: the Indian film industry

Director SS Rajamouli stated that dialogues and subtitles are the only means of communication and that he would want the audience to comprehend the story of his films through images. The director was speaking during a press briefing on Friday at the India Pavilion as part of the EXPO2020 Dubai, where his latest period action drama, RRR, is set to be released on March 25.

He was joined by the film's lead actors, Ram Charan and N T Rama Rao Jr, at the Media and Entertainment Fortnight, which kicked off on Saturday.

The filmmaker told PTI at the press conference that it's just a method of communication for him, whether it's subtitling or the (original) language. Those are irrelevant to him. The filmmaker would rather have his audience understand the story through the visuals, the actors' performances, and the background music. As a filmmaker, that is what he would desire.

Recalling an instance from his Telugu film, Eega (2012), the filmmaker expressed his hope that viewers would be able to understand the grammar of his films by watching what happens on screen. Rajamouli revealed that his cousin came from abroad to help me make the film, and he brought a white man with him. They came to his office, and the filmmaker showed them a few scenes from the movie.

Rajamouli recalled that his brother was trying to explain to the man what was going on in the film's dialogue. But then he told his brother to shut up and responded that he could see what was going on.

The filmmaker, who is credited with creating the Baahubali franchise, said he is always working in the service of the story. The story always comes first for Rajamouli, followed by the budget. He is a slave to the narrative. The audience's senses would differ not only across North and South India but also within each state and city, according to Rajamouli, who added that the only thing that will be universal is emotion.

One day, he hopes, we will have only one major film business: the Indian film industry. That's the goal he is aiming for. Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and other languages are exactly that: languages.

Rajamouli shared that the taste of the food we consume varies from region to region, but the feelings of a human being do not. He is not concerned about how North or South Indians will respond to my story as long as it is based on a universal human emotion that he believes will resonate with everyone. 

RRR is a pre-Independence fictitious story centred on two actual Indian rebels from the 1920s, Alluri Sitarama Raju (Charan) and Komaram Bheem (N T Rama Rao Jr).