'Long tradition of storytelling in India, not being able to travel across borders has been a disappointment': SS Rajamouli

The Indian film industry churns out the maximum number of films in the world. These films are made in several popular Indian languages spoken throughout the country. There are several successful film-producing industries within the Indian film industry, including Bollywood, Tollywood, Kollywood, and Mollywood. Together these industries produce over 2000 films per year.

Despite so many films made every year, just one or two manage to make a mark globally and impress Western audiences. “We have a long tradition of storytelling in India. We have probably the oldest and most colourful stories. Not being able to travel across borders has been a disappointment,” says director SS Rajamouli whose latest directorial RRR has touched the hearts of many people in Western counties.

Starring Tollywood stars Jr NTR and Ram Charan in lead roles and Bollywood stars Ajay Devgn and Alia Bhatt in extended cameos, RRR is a three-hour Telugu-language action epic drama that has not only become one of India’s biggest hits ever but performed extremely well at US box-office charts before landed on Netflix and finding an even wider audience.

For nine straight weeks, RRR has ranked among the top 10 non-English language films on the streaming media giant, beating several Hollywood biggies that premiered digitally around the same timeframe.

RRR faced a series of setbacks before finding its way into cinemas. But when it finally entered theatres, it created a storm and then continued its winning act on Netflix. Dubbed in Hindi and subtitled in 15 different languages, RRR is the most popular film from India ever on Netflix, charting among the top 10 films in 62 different countries.

For the majority of the audience in Western countries, RRR is their first encounter with Tollywood, the Telugu film industry, or Indian films. The film is filled with every human emotion one can imagine – love, friendship, patriotism, separation, anger, and what not.

In an interview, Rajamouli said, “There is never enough for me. The only thing too much is my producer coming in and saying, ‘We’re crossing our budget. You need to stop somewhere.’ That is the only thing that will stop me. If given a chance, I will go even bigger and wilder, no doubt about it. To the brink, and nothing less.”

The film has garnered praise from several prominent artists from Hollywood. James Gunn and Scott Derrickson, who have each helmed Marvel movies, have heaped their praise on RRR since it landed on Netflix.

To celebrate my birthday last night, my wife, kids and I watched @RRRMovie — what an awesomely outrageous roller coaster of a movie. Loved it. pic.twitter.com/90U7AXJPgd

— N O S ⋊ Ɔ I ᴚ ᴚ Ǝ ᗡ ⊥ ⊥ O Ɔ S (@scottderrickson) July 16, 2022

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