Mumbai: Acclaimed filmmaker S S Rajamouli turned 53 on Saturday, October 10, with birthday wishes pouring in from actors, colleagues and fans across the world. Mahesh Babu, Jr NTR and Ram Charan were among the stars who celebrated the director, whose ambitious storytelling and grand cinematic spectacles have helped bring Indian cinema to a global audience.
Affectionately known as Jakkanna, a nickname associated with his perfectionist approach to filmmaking, Rajamouli has built a reputation for combining large-scale action, emotional storytelling and visual innovation. From the reincarnation drama Magadheera to the imaginative revenge thriller Eega and the blockbuster Baahubali franchise, his films have consistently expanded the scale of mainstream Indian cinema.
His most recent directorial release, RRR (2022), further strengthened his international standing, with the film’s song Naatu Naatu winning the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Mahesh Babu, Jr NTR and Ram Charan share birthday wishes
Mahesh Babu, who is collaborating with Rajamouli on the highly anticipated film widely referred to as SSMB29, shared a candid photograph with the filmmaker and wished him on his birthday.
“Wishing the one and only @ssrajamouli a very Happy Birthday… The best is always yet to come!” Mahesh Babu wrote, expressing his confidence in the director’s future projects.
Jr NTR, who has worked with Rajamouli on several films, including Student No. 1, Simhadri and RRR, also extended his wishes.
“Happy Birthday Jakkanna! Wishing you the best, as always,” the actor wrote, continuing a tradition of celebrating his long-standing professional association and friendship with the filmmaker.
Ram Charan, who shared the screen with Jr NTR in RRR, also joined the birthday greetings. Describing Rajamouli as “one of the greatest filmmakers of our time,” the actor praised the director’s contribution to cinema.
The messages reflect the filmmaker’s enduring relationships with actors who have collaborated with him on some of Telugu cinema’s most successful productions.
From Student No. 1 to a celebrated filmmaker
Rajamouli made his directorial debut with Student No. 1 in 2001, starring Jr NTR. The film established the beginning of a successful collaboration between the director and actor while introducing audiences to Rajamouli’s interest in energetic storytelling and dramatic action.
He followed it with Simhadri, another successful collaboration with Jr NTR, before exploring different settings and genres with films such as Sye, which revolved around rugby, and Chatrapathi, featuring Prabhas.
His subsequent film Vikramarkudu, starring Ravi Teja, further demonstrated his ability to combine action, humour and emotional drama.
These early projects helped establish Rajamouli as a commercially successful director in Telugu cinema. They also provided a foundation for the increasingly ambitious productions that would define the next phase of his career.
Magadheera and Eega showcased his imagination
With Magadheera in 2009, Rajamouli ventured into large-scale fantasy action, using reincarnation, elaborate battle sequences and visual effects to tell a story spanning different periods.
Starring Ram Charan and Kajal Aggarwal, the film became a significant milestone in Telugu cinema’s use of large-scale visual spectacle and helped establish Ram Charan as a leading star.
Rajamouli followed it with Eega in 2012, a film built around an unusual premise: a murdered man is reincarnated as a housefly and seeks revenge on his killer.
Featuring Sudeep, Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Nani, the film transformed a seemingly unconventional idea into a commercially successful revenge story. Its use of computer-generated imagery to give the tiny protagonist personality and emotional depth received widespread attention.
Eega demonstrated Rajamouli’s ability to turn an inventive premise into an accessible mainstream film, balancing visual effects with humour, suspense and emotion.
Baahubali transformed Indian cinema’s ambitions
Rajamouli reached a new level of national recognition with Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017).
Starring Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Anushka Shetty, Tamannaah Bhatia and Ramya Krishnan, the two-part epic combined palace intrigue, family conflict, elaborate battle sequences and large-scale production design.
The films attracted audiences across language markets and helped popularise the pan-Indian release model, in which a film is promoted and distributed to audiences in multiple Indian languages.
The Baahubali films also generated memorable visual sequences, including the waterfall imagery associated with Shiva and the epic battles surrounding the kingdom of Mahishmati.
Together, the two films collected more than Rs 2,400 crore worldwide, according to widely reported box-office estimates, cementing the franchise’s position among the most commercially successful Indian film series.
Their success demonstrated that a Telugu-language production could become a major theatrical event across India without relying solely on the traditional boundaries of regional cinema.
RRR earns international recognition
Rajamouli’s RRR, released in 2022, starred Ram Charan and Jr NTR as fictionalised versions of freedom fighters Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem.
The action drama combined historical inspiration with fictional storytelling, elaborate set pieces and an emotionally driven narrative. It became a major success in India and attracted a substantial international audience, particularly after its availability on streaming platforms.
The film’s biggest global milestone came with Naatu Naatu, composed by M M Keeravaani, winning the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 95th Oscars in 2023. The song also won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song earlier that year.
The recognition brought unprecedented international attention to a Telugu film song and strengthened the global profile of Indian popular cinema.
Rajamouli’s filmmaking has also received wider recognition beyond individual awards, with his ability to combine spectacle and emotional storytelling becoming a defining feature of his work.
Awards and achievements mark his career
Over more than two decades, Rajamouli has received major recognition for his contribution to Indian cinema.
Among his honours is the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian award, which he received in 2016. He has also been associated with multiple National Film Awards through his work, including recognition for Eega, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion and RRR.
In 2023, TIME included him in its list of the world’s 100 most influential people, reflecting his growing international profile.
His career is notable for the range of films he has directed, from sports drama and action entertainers to fantasy epics and imaginative revenge stories. Rather than remaining within a single genre, he has repeatedly explored new narrative and technical possibilities.
Mahesh Babu collaboration is his next major project
At 53, Rajamouli is working on his next major film with Mahesh Babu. The globe-trotting action adventure, widely referred to as SSMB29, has generated considerable anticipation because it brings together two prominent names in Indian cinema.
The project is expected to take Rajamouli into another ambitious production, although further details about its story and eventual release remain subject to official announcements.
For a filmmaker whose career has moved from Telugu blockbusters to international recognition, the upcoming collaboration represents the next chapter in a body of work built around scale, imagination and storytelling.
As birthday wishes continue to arrive from collaborators and fans, Rajamouli’s journey stands as an example of how regional-language cinema can reach audiences well beyond its original market. His films have helped reshape expectations of Indian theatrical entertainment while establishing a distinctive cinematic identity.