RRR: Sandeep Reddy Vanga takes a deep dive into SS Rajamouli's cinematic universe

RRR is managing to hog the limelight almost every day, stay in the headlines for the right reasons prior to its release on March 25. The SS Rajamouli directorial, a historical fiction drama, brings together Jr NTR, Ram Charan, Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn in lead roles and will release in five languages simultaneously - Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada. As part of the film's extensive promotional campaign, the team today released a special interview of SS Rajamouli by Arjun Reddy, Kabir Singh filmmaker Sandeep Reddy Vanga.

The interaction between SS Rajamouli and Sandeep Reddy Vanga is akin to a masterclass in filmmaking, where the latter prefers to be a diligent student trying to absorb everything he can from the Baahubali filmmaker. The two talked about everything under the sun in terms of film production - handling CG/VFX, choosing junior artistes, delving into plot development, managing a huge crew, the significance of budget, teaming up with two major stars and more.

SS Rajamouli, while discussing the inspiration behind RRR, said that he was always fascinated by the idea of two superheroes coming together for a story. What if the two were patriotic warriors, hailing from the Telugu land and happen to meet at a place alien from their roots? Komaram Bheem, Alluri Sitaramaraju were born in the same year, 1897, and mysteriously disappeared from their houses in the 1920s. What if they met in Delhi in that phase, which paved a path for their life later? I was very excited by the possibility of their friendship," he said.

Naatu Naatu choreographer Prem Rakshith had even choreographed a brief action sequence in the film. Sandeep Reddy Vanga was particularly fascinated by a scene in the trailer where Ram Charan as Alluri Sitaramaraju goes on beating people ruthlessly without even noticing their faces. SS Rajamouli was full of praise for Ram Charan for emoting through his body language while also showcasing restraint in his facial expression. "You'll enjoy that scene for sure," Rajamouli told the Arjun Reddy filmmaker.

The RRR director made it clear that the movie was based on friendship and wouldn't delve into the patriotic side too much. "The romance angle, between Ram Charan and Alia Bhatt in the film is very brief. RRR is about bromance," Rajamouli added. Among the many interesting details he shared in the conversation, Rajamouli told that the initial plan was to wrap the film in 225-240 working days and that it went on for more than 300 days. The main reason for the time was due to the interval shot, which was reportedly shot for over 60 nights and was initially supposed to be finished in under 25 days. The rehearsals for the same went on for over 200 days/

Sandeep also questioned the filmmaker about the number of working days for his other films. Rajamouli informed that Baahubali had over 600 working days for both parts combined while Chatrapathi and Maryada Ramanna were shot between 120-140 days. Eega took him over 200 days for the shoot. Budget is a factor that keeps playing on my mind, Rajamouli admitted. He said that his son Karthikeya and sister-in-law Srivalli are his main pillars during the shoot, from handling day-to-day activities to coordinating with celebrities to their remuneration and planning schedules.

The directors spoke of the many difficulties of handling CG/VFX-based sequences in a film and how it's always best to shoot the core of the sequence on the location. Rajamouli took the example of the tiger-related sequence in RRR where Jr NTR had to react like he was confronting an animal when all he had was thin air in front of him. The detailing in the anatomy of the animal and its movement are quite crucial for making the scene as realistic as possible.

It was interesting to notice Sandeep's desire to learn from the filmmaker as if he were a textbook. The conversation ended when Sandeep asked if he could join the sets of his next film as an assistant at least for 25-30 days, just to observe how he goes about his work on a set. Rajamouli returned the favour saying that he would want to come down to his location too and look at his work ethic anonymously.