SS Rajamouli, a huge fan of Shruti Haasan, is disappointed with Prashanth Neel as Salaar has no dance numbers

Prashanth Neel replied, “We initially thought of putting something like a mass number or a duet. But we got sucked into the drama of the film so much that we never used Shruti for glamour. She is very much a part of the story and plays a strong role. And I think the world has sort of changed. People are more exposed to international content and they are accepting pure drama if it is done right. Though we have put a lot of money into it, we have decided to make the drama as the commercial aspect of the movie.”

SS Rajamouli added, “I think more than the world, I think we have changed. The world has always been accepting of films without songs and other elements. We filmmakers were not confident enough and added other things to films. Now, you have become confident.”

Prabhas shared that Hombale Films were not demanding anything from them and backed all the decisions of the director which enabled them to be bold and confident.

Rajamouli also asked about Prashanth Neel’s obsession with the colour black, and the director said he has come to realise that he has an “OCD with monochrome”. “I realised that the obsession is reflected in my movies, which I realised only after putting out the Salaar teaser. It has nothing to do with my DOP or art director. It is just my OCD that when I put out my content it has to be with the colour (black) to make it gritty. I am probably not brave enough to do (otherwise). I have realised that is not the best thing to do. But this world deserves it. It is a coincidence that it looks similar to the previous world we have created.

Prithiviraj, who is playing the antagonist in Salaar, joined in and spoke more about Prashanth’s obsession with black. “I mostly wear black in the film, and Prabhas wears olive green and all that. So, when I wear this kurta-like thing and walk inside the set, Prashanth will be like, ‘Sir, this is not working out.’ And he will ask to bring a new costume, which will also look exactly the same… black. Later, he will see the new costume and say, ‘I am extremely sorry, sir.’ And shout at the costume department to change again, and those poor guys will run for their lives. The new costume will also be in black (laughs).”

On top of his obsession with black, Prashanth Neel is also particular about the hairstyles of all the artistes in the frame. When Prithviraj quipped, “Salaar is story, direction, screenplay, and hairstyling…” And before he could complete it, Prabhas jumped in and said, “No. It is first hairstyling and then only everything else.” Prithviraj said, “He styled almost everyone on the set. And Tinu Anand sir asked me, ‘Arre, kya kar rahe hai? I have only seven hair strands on my head.”

Prabhas added, “It is his problem nothing else. I understood when I saw him go behind the mother (Eswari Rao) and start pulling her hair out. I was like, ‘Who pulls the hair like that?’ I think she got used to it from KGF 2. She didn’t say a word. Then I told Prithviraj sir that he has an obsession and to be careful.” In reply to all this, SS Rajamouli said, “I understand it because, in emotional scenes, I want the characters’ hair to fly in a certain way.”