SS Rajamouli reveals how he signed Jr. NTR and Ram Charan for ‘RRR’, says ‘it was a coup’

Director SS Rajamouli recently made his US talk show debut on Late Night with Seth Meyers. The filmmaker opened up about how he got two of the biggest south stars, Jr. NTR and Ram Charan, to work together in ‘RRR’. 

When asked if the actors were on board the idea of working on a multi-starrer film Rajamouli said, “They (Jr. NTR and Ram Charan) too are friends outside their professional work so when I wanted to this multi-star film I knew if I called one of them, he will call the other person before me."

“I just called both of them and invited them to my place, they didn’t know about the other one coming so they were surprised to see each other there. I told them ‘I have this idea and I am telling this to both of you at the same time. I want to do a multi-star film with you. Are you both up for it?’ I didn’t tell them the story or what I wanted to make. It was a nice coup and it worked,” the director added.

Rajamouli on RRR’s success in the West

Speaking about the attention the film has received in the West. Rajamouli admitted initially, they assumed the online discussion surrounding RRR was being generated by non-Indians who must have gone to the theatre with their Indian friends.

“Then, as it started increasing, then celebrities, story writers, film directors, so many people started tweeting about it, talking about the film on social media. They started championing the film by word of mouth, we thought okay this is growing much more. Then it released on Netflix and it was in the top 10 for 15 consecutive weeks,” he added.

‘RRR’ won Golden Globes for Best Original Song for the track ‘Naatu Naatu’ on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the film is also rooting for the Oscars. The final list of nominees for the Academy Awards will be out on January 24, 2023. However, the movie has made the nomination shortlist.