S S Rajamouli turns nostalgic about Student No.1

As his debut movie ‘Student No.1’ celebrates 15 years today, S S Rajamouli turns nostalgic about it.  Although it was 15 years ago that he debuted, it was 25 years ago that he began his journey in films. His debut film ‘Student No.1’ was released on 27 September 2001. It was NTR Jr’s second film as lead hero. 

Rajamouli entered into films as an editing assistant. Yet, he says he doesn’t feel like having been in the creative industry for so many years.  

“I credit the success of ‘Student No.1’ largely to Pridhivi Teja’s script and MM Keeravani’s music. You can see Tarak’s good work in few scenes but he was still budding as an actor,” he shared his views on twitter. 

No wonder that, to him, the writing has been more important than any other department, much as the fans of his movies go gaga over the visuals.  

He doesn’t spare himself either. “My direction was very amateurish at its best, with the exception of the interval sequence may be,” the director puts it, frankly.

“During the Vijaya Yathra, I saw how people started embracing and accepting Tarak. Masses and even old people thronged to catch a glimpse of this 19-year-old. That was quite an experience. All of us, new comers, who were associated with the film are quite lucky to get that chance,” he recalls fondly and joyfully. He also shared a funny moment of the movie’s shoot. He tweeted, “Me and tarak were put up in the same room in Switzerland. My bedtime was 9. He used to watch tv till 12. That too some agricultural program. Which was the only channel that was telecast. That too in some Swiss dialect. Curse him even now when I think of it.”

His guru K Raghavendra Rao produced the film and the veteran director also supervised the direction. So much of the movie’s credit went to Raghavendra Rao. It was with ‘Simhadri’ that Rajamouli showed his mark and there after there is no looking back for him.