Fifteen years ago, a director made a calm entry on the scene. His first movie was known more for the strength of the story rather than that of the directorial vision. Since 2001 belonged to that era when college campus stories were the current trend (thanks to such films as 'Chitram' and 'Nuvve Kavali'), the farewell song 'We miss you' was one of the main reasons why the film became popular among college-goers.

SS Rajamouli takes stock of it all. "I credit the success of 'Student No.1' largely to Pridhivi Teja's script and MM Keeravani's music," he says, surprisingly not giving much credit to NTR and himself. Those of you who are older enough to remember those days will know that many wrongly believed the movie was ghost-directed by K Raghavendra Rao.

What does Rajamouli say about NTR's performance in the actor's second outing? "You can see Tarak's good work in a few scenes, but he was still budding as an actor," he comments, admiringly not carried away by the super-stardom of the Nandamuri actor.

The K Raghavendra Rao protege was among the first industry personalities to witness the potential fandom that NTR would achieve films later. "During the Vijaya Yathra, I witnessed how people embraced Tarak. Masses and even old people thronged to see the 19-year-old boy. That was quite an experience. All of us newcomers, who were associated with the film, are quite lucky to get that chance," he ponders.

And Rajamouli is the last one to flatter himself. "My direction was very amateurish at its best, (perhaps) with the exception of the interval sequence," the man whose creativity has grown in ascending order, says.