Director Rajamouli lost sleep over this film, here’s why

Rajamouli, the director of high-budget films like Baahubali and RRR, was reportedly extremely anxious about one particular movie. He spent sleepless nights during its release. What was that film?  

SS Rajamouli

Several directors before Rajamouli made big-budget films. In Telugu, however, Rajamouli pioneered films with budgets of hundreds of crores. It can be said that Rajamouli introduced the Pan India concept. In the South, director Shankar made high-budget films like Robo and 2.0. They were also well received in the North.

With Baahubali and Baahubali 2, Rajamouli expanded the scope of the Indian film industry. He proved that if a film has good content, the audience will appreciate it regardless of language barriers. Making films with a budget of Rs. 500-600 crores at a time when the Tollywood market was not even Rs. 100 crores was a huge gamble. The making of Baahubali and Baahubali 2 was a tightrope walk. If it went wrong, there would be losses of hundreds of crores.

Rajamouli took the risk with confidence in his talent. The producers also gave him their full support and cooperation. Baahubali 2 shook the Indian box office. Baahubali 2 still holds the record for the highest-grossing domestic film. With RRR, Rajamouli reached another level. World-renowned directors like James Cameron and Steven Spielberg praised Rajamouli.

RRR even won an Oscar. 'Naatu Naatu' won the Oscar in the Original Song category. However, Rajamouli, a director with no failures, was reportedly very tense about one movie. He spent sleepless nights before its release. That film was Magadheera. He revealed this in an interview.

Rajamouli said, "I don't get tense when my film is releasing. There is only a little excitement. But I was very tense about Magadheera. I was more worried about this film than any of the six films I had made. Because... the budget of this film went overboard. The business also happened in the same way."

Moreover, the discussion started in the industry about ten days before the release. Everyone was saying that Magadheera would be a big hit. In this process, my anxiety increased. That's why the success of Magadheera made me very happy. It is very special compared to the successes of other films."

Magadheera was made as Ram Charan's second film. At that time, Ram Charan did not have a significant market. It is reported that producer Allu Aravind was very worried about the budget. He reportedly pressured Rajamouli about this. He used to say, "I am making Magadheera by investing everything and taking loans. This is a very big risk."

With Magadheera becoming an industry hit, Allu Aravind made huge profits. But he reportedly did not give Rajamouli a single rupee share in the profits. On the other hand, Chiranjeevi reportedly promoted that all the credit for Magadheera belonged to Charan. Annoyed by this, Rajamouli made Maryada Ramanna with Sunil and Eega with Nani, according to an argument in the industry.

Magadheera Movie Poster

Rajamouli reportedly made those films to prove that he could deliver a hit even with a comedian or even a small housefly as the hero. The truth in these rumors is unknown, but... the propaganda happened.