SS Rajamouli holds ‘high fees to actors, directors’ responsible for Hindi cinema’s poor show in 2022: ‘Hunger to succeed has come down’

SS Rajamouli said that a filmmaker must not become 'complacent' if their film starts doing good business.

New Delhi | December 13, 2022 10:10 AM IST

3 min read

SS Rajamouli accepted the award for RRR at NYFCC. (Photo: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)

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Filmmaker SS Rajamouli is being lauded by cinema lovers for his latest film RRR. He has put Indian cinema on the global map with his Baahubali franchise and RRR is now winning accolades in the awards circuit. The film was nominated in two categories in the Golden Globes on Tuesday. Recently, during a conversation about cinema, he reflected upon the failure of Hindi cinema in 2022. He also said the only mantra for the success of movies is to understand what your audience wants.

Speaking at the Filmmakers’ Adda conducted by Film Companion, Rajamouli said that a filmmaker must not become “complacent” if their film starts doing good business. Reflecting upon what led to the downfall of Hindi cinema this year, he said that it all happened because of the high fees of actors, directors and others involved in the process of filmmaking.

He opined, “What happened was once the corporates started to come into the Hindi films, and started paying high fees to actors, directors, companies, the hunger to succeed has come down a little bit.”

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The Hindi film industry could only give a handful of bonafide hits this year, but several high-profile movies starring A-list actors have failed tragically. The Kashmir Files, Gangubai Kathiawadi, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and Drishyam 2 are the only ones which managed to bring in some money. Brahmastra also was a blockbuster, but its making cost was much higher than its earnings at the box office.

The films which attracted more audience to the cinema halls were the Hindi-dubbed versions of KGF: Chapter 2 and RRR.

Rajamouli said that the South film industry flourished this year because the same scenario was not there down south. He proposed, “You have to swim more or you are going to sink.” However, Rajamouli also understands that since now the films from the south are doing well, filmmakers there “have to make sure, we do not get complacent.”

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He added, “We have good business now, and now if we start to get complacent, then hunger to succeed goes down, and it’s going to go the other way.”

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Currently, the filmmaker is celebrating RRR’s nominations at the 2023 Golden Globe Awards. He is also busy running the Oscar campaign for the film.

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