Who is RRR director SS Rajamouli? His Oscars 2023 hopeful and Indian megahit is just one of 3 movies of his in India’s top 5 most successful domestically

RRR could feature in numerous categories in the Oscars nominations and Rajamouli has already been named best director by the New York Film Critics Circle

His 2017 movie Baahubali 2: The Conclusion is the most successful film of all time in India and he is credited with massively expanding South Indian cinema

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A scene from RRR, the critically acclaimed blockbuster and Oscar hopeful from Indian director SS Rajamouli. Photo: DVV Entertainment

Published: 12:45pm, 12 Jan 2023Updated: 1:52pm, 12 Jan 2023

Filmmaker SS Rajamouli can lay claim to being the highest-paid director currently working in the Indian film industry, with his three most recent features placing in the top five of India’s all-time box office chart.

Before 2023, however, the 49-year-old from Karnataka state was widely unknown outside his home country. Today he is being lauded by critics and awards bodies around the world after his latest offering, the historical action epic RRR, emerged as a legitimate contender this awards season.

The rousing three-hour spectacle has featured in many year-end lists of the best films of 2022 from such esteemed publications as Sight and Sound, the Los Angeles Times, and The Guardian. RRR even topped the Post’s own list of the year’s best Asian films.

The film was named among the year’s Top 10 films by America’s National Board of Review, has secured five Critics Choice Award nominations, and earlier this month Rajamouli was named best director by the New York Film Critics Circle.

RRR Trailer (Telugu) - NTR, Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt | SS Rajamouli | 25th March 2022

These awards-season bellwethers have sparked murmurs that the film could be poised to receive attention in numerous categories when the Academy Awards nominations are unveiled on January 24.

All this despite the film being passed over as India’s official entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the Oscars in favour of Pan Nalin’s rather less inspiring Last Film Show.