Everyone from Karan Johar in Bollywood to our own Tollywood star heroes agrees on one thing and that is Rajamouli`s amazing film making style which has given him nine hits in a row which no other director has achieved in Indian Cinema making one of the biggest directors of the country. On the eve of his tenth release, Baahubali` we got S.S. Rajamouli himself on the Red Carpet and here is the transcript of the interview for you.

You have been in the biggest ever campaigns which Indian Cinema has not seen. You are in Mumbai, you are in Chennai and now you are in Kochi. What do you have to say about that?

It is great travelling pan India, so many countries, so many time frames, so many people, yet the love for cinema being the same.

Baahubali` is really big, you are in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu but why did you choose Malayalam normally Telugu films are not dubbed here except Allu Arjun movies?

The first film of mine that got dubbed in Malayalam was Magadeera` and it did reasonably well and then we also dubbed Eega` and it did very well. And what we realized in the journey was even the languages, the cultures are different, the sensibilities are different from region to region, but if you have a base story which hinges on human emotions rather that anything else, then you will have a universal connect. That is what I learnt with Dheera` and Eacha`. Now with the base of Baahubali` being with human emotions, the characters and the relationships between the characters is the USP of Baahubali`.

What is the status of Baahubali 2`?

We have shot 30 to 40 percent of the film. The crucial scenes between all the combinations are over and we still have around hundred and fifty days of shoot left and we are planning to start shooting from September.

Rumors are going around that Suriya is doing a role in the second part?

No, no it is just a rumor.

Tell us about Prabhas why do you like him so much even ten years after Chathrapathi`?

During the making of Chathrapathi`, we connected very well not only on the professional front even on the personal front and we became good friends. We have certain things that we agree upon like we don`t believe in the number of films we make, we don`t believe in the big remunerations we make. We believe in giving all that we have for the film we are making. We never work on two films at a time. There are certain things that we are very clear on not just in films in life also. So we connected very well. For Baahubali`, I needed lots of dates because the span is so big and when I told him the story and asked him for the dates he replied “Darling you cannot make this film in one year it will take almost two years and we have spent so much on the making of the film and in fact we never spoke about his remuneration and after six months into production we fixed a small amount. Prabhas was red hot at that time after giving three back to back hits and producers were running after him with money bags and we told him that the production can only afford that much because we were spending huge on sets and visual effects. He jokingly said “Oh, you are going to spend that much and giving me so little?” So money was never discussed and did not play a role between us.

How did Prabhas agree to do the film as Rana a big hero is also there playing the villain and in your films the villain rises above the hero and in only the last reel the hero has the upper hand?

That is the whole point of screenplays. If you take the Ramayana until the last moment Rama kills Ravanan he gains everything, he is more powerful and richer. If you take the Mahabharatha, Duryodhanaa has everything until the last moment while what Bheema had, was fourteen years of exile, humiliation and only in the last reel do they succeed. That has been the screenplay of our epics Villains play the pivotal roles they are always stronger and powerful than the heroes.

Tell us about Rana`s role, even in the trailers he looks so powerful and awesome?

One different thing about Ballala Deva, comparing to the villains of my previous films is that he is not actually loud and his character is actually shrouded in mystery and no one knows what he is thinking. In fact, for a long period in the film you will be seeing him smile. He doesn`t even shout and is not angry most of the time as opposed to my previous films. I really loved working on Ballala Deva character, for he gave me much more variety than any other character.

Tell us about Tamil actors Sathyaraj and Nasser as in some sections there was dissent because you did not give the roles to Telugu actors?

I never, never ever look at the language of the actor who is playing characters in my film. This is not the first time, for I have worked with Bhojpuri actors, Hindi actors, Tamil actors, Telugu actors who no one knows. Some actors from my films made big careers for themselves after that and I will never take credit for that as it is their talent and what I do is I look around and see who is the best actor who can play my character and I don`t care if he is Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi or Telugu.

Your characterization is so strong that only a particular actor can play them?

You can never say that only one particular actor can do a film. As a director when I do my film, I have such an imagination and I fix an actor who matches it and not because of some whims or fancies or because someone else thinks something else. I do the films for myself and not for others.

The trailer shows that Tamanaah has a bigger role than Sweety?

Tamanaah is the heroine of Baahubali – The Beginning` and Anushka is the heroine of the second part and obviously Tamanaah gets more screen in this because she is the heroine, but Sweety has a small role to play in the first part, which will be different and you will see her in a new avatar. Anushka`s character will be sharp and hard hitting, even though she has very little screen space.

Will you ever work with Mahesh Babu?