Ahead of the theatrical release of 'Roudram Ranam Rudhiram' on March 25, its director SS Rajamouli has interacted with the Hyderabad media. In this interview, we bring out the highlights of what he said.

Highlights of the interview:

The personalities and acting abilities of Tarak and Charan inspired me to cast them for the lead roles. Their camaraderie and friendship date back several years.

Don't think in terms of the screen time, or the nature of action sequences involving the two heroes. You will feel the same amount of empathy for both Bheem and Alluri. The closeness the audience develops with the characters is what matters.

I don't skim the surface. I can't make a heartless film where the stardom overtakes the characterization. The audience have to empathize with the pain, anger, joy, or whatever of the lead characters.

'RRR' started out as a mere reference but the audiences thought that it was the actual title. Therefore, we worked on the initials and made them the title. Ram can take any amount of pain in 'RRR'. Charan has that strength in life. Tarak is a livewire. Bheem is naive and expressive. He doesn't bottle up his emotions. That's why Tarak is apt for the role.

CM garu received us well the other day. We are pretty confident that everything shapes up well. I met with Jagan garu regarding 'RRR'. He told us that things will pan out as per the new GO. He wants both the makers of 'RRR' and the audiences to be satisfied. (Note: The AP govt. has hiked the ticket rates by Rs 100 for 'RRR').

Will there be benefit shows? The fact that the AP government has permitted five shows per day says it all. It's like benefit shows have been permitted every day! The increase in the cost of production was inevitable due to the pandemic. I could implement my vision and that's what matters. It's the fear of failing at executing my vision that drives me forward always.

Due to the repeated postponements, we could spend more time on the 3D version of 'RRR'.

'RRR' is not the life stories of Bheem and Alluri. It's like a counter-factual film, which is entirely fictional. Dramatization is only to be expected in such a film.

Alia Bhatt is not a tribal girl in the movie. She is from Visakhapatnam. Sita should look like someone whom we should always be ready to help. But she herself should be strong enough to control Bheem and Alluri. I enlisted Alia not going by her features or skin tone. Her face made me feel that she fits the bill.

I have been a filmmaker for 20 years. I have never made claims about how big a film is going to be. I can assure you that 'RRR' will definitely satisfy you.

'RRR' can't be called a global project. As long as only Indian nationals or overseas citizens watch your movie, it's still an Indian film and nothing more. A section of the Japanese audiences watched 'Baahubali' and it attained a cult status among them. That's all there is to it. I didn't make 'Baahubali' with the aim of satisfying them. They connected with the emotions and it proves that some emotions can connect with a foreign audience.

Paid premieres (in India) are not planned for now. If distributors are up for it, they will go for them.

Tarak is like a super-computer. He picks up my instructions super fast. I know the kind of pauses he will give, the kind of delivery he will give. Charan has started believing in his guts. His mind is uncluttered. He comes like a clean slate to set. He asks his director to paint on the white canvas. It's a kind of meditation to keep the mind free of thoughts.

Starting the film 'RRR' itself was a sacrifice. Had they used the time to do 2-3 other films, Tarak and Charan would have earned more.