He does not hesitate to paint his protagonists and antagonists in a black-and-white dichotomy in order to contrast them with each other. Karmic fatalism is another staple of Rajamouli’s narratives. The raw, primal emotionality usually associated with these motifs enables Rajamouli’s audiences to identify themselves in his stories and characters, and fuels the high-octane sequences that make them so exciting to watch. To achieve this, Rajamouli first establishes his problematique-usually in the form of the antagonist or a tragic flashback-then proceeds to complicate that premise through themes of revenge, romance, and unfulfilled desires. Rajamouli is able to draw out mainstream Indian cinema’s inherent musicality and use it to find rhythm in his narratives. Rajamouli applies this basic definition to his stories and redefines mythmaking as a process of crafting legends out of his chosen subjects in the most absurd and logic-defying ways possible. In a literary sense, myths are folkloric tales concerning a hero or an event, usually based on cultural or religious beliefs. Rajamouli’s stylistic indulgence always serves a purpose-that is, to communicate in the most efficient manner the self-mythologizing narratives he is fond of telling. However, to call his films mere epic spectacles would be a disservice to their thematic depth. His penchant for theatrics and over-the-top action sequences allows his stories to expand beyond imagination and proves the director’s immense command of the cinematic medium. Varied though his characters may be-with a wild collection of students, petty criminals, gangsters, gods, warriors, freedom fighters, a housefly, and even a sentient bicycle-he always presents them in a grand manner. This maximalist yet orderly kineticism is justified by the epic scope of his films. Hence his films not only move they also dance to the story beats and to Rajamouli’s directorial orchestration. This is aided by the ubiquity of percussive and brass instruments as well as choral chant singing in his musical scores. Rajamouli, however, is able to draw out mainstream Indian cinema’s inherent musicality and use it to find rhythm in his narratives. With a weaker director at the helm, this formal approach would be exhausting for the audience to follow. Oftentimes, he puts even greater emphasis on these moments with the use of slow-mo and bombastic visual effects, further enhancing their dynamic energy. His camera just never stops moving and is always directed at action, whether it be through quick cuts, musical montages, zoom-ins, or tracking shots. The masala genre is so popular that it has become synonymous with mainstream Indian cinema and is thus the style most compatible with Rajamouli’s artistic vision.ĭrawing inspiration from ‘50s American roadshow epics (specifically William Wyler’s Ben-Hur) and the Telugu films Missamma (1955) and Mayabazar (1957), Rajamouli understands that film, at its core, is a motion picture. Similarly, masala films incorporate various genres like romance, musical, action, fantasy, and comedy, among others, into one fascinating concoction of cinematic styles in order to appeal to as many audiences as possible. The term “masala” refers to spice mixtures widely used as the foundation of flavors in Indian cuisine. This desire for large-scale productions also meant that Rajamouli would develop a very economic view of cinema, anticipating box office returns that would help him fund his subsequent film projects.Īs such, Rajamouli’s films fall under the masala genre of the Indian film industry. In particular, he has had a keen fascination with “larger-than-life” pictures and fantasy entertainment. Make no mistake, though: the 48-year-old director’s filmography is as artistically meritable as any popular name in world cinema.īorn to a family of professionals working in various fields of film production, Rajamouli had already been exposed to the silver screen at an early age. Rarely do I come across a filmmaker so committed to his vision of cinema-one without any pretensions for arthouse sensibility or genre deconstructions-and become completely entranced by it. One of the most pleasant surprises of my cinephilic journey so far has been discovering the films of Telugu Indian director S.S. “Any man’s finest hour is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted in the field of battle… victorious.” - Vince Lombardi, as quoted in Sye (2004, dir.
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