SS Rajamouli and Steven Spielberg chatted about their films and working styles in a new conversation. The American director’s newest project, The Fabelmans, released in India on Friday and Rajamouli quizzed Steven about certain scenes in the film. Steven also shared his reactions to Rajamouli’s Telugu film RRR which he saw ahead of the online conversation. He praised the performances of Jr NTR, Ram Charan and Alia Bhatt in their talk. Meanwhile, Rajamouli revealed that he is never far from those closest to them and works with them often on his film projects. (Also read: Steven Spielberg loved performances of Jr NTR, Ram Charan and Alia Bhatt in SS Rajamouli’s RRR: ‘It was like eye candy’)
The two talked about The Fabelmans, in which Steven has fictionalised several key moments of his own life, including his parents’ divorce and how he got his start in filmmaking. The American director also spoke about balancing both art and family. He stated that The Fabelmans had no villains in the story as it was a story about love. Even though it dealt with traumatic instances of his past, he wanted to be respectful in the way his parents and three sisters were presented.
Steven Spielberg spoke about turning down projects in the course of his career so he could be home with his children and wife. He shared that he turned down the first film in the Harry Potter film franchise so he could be with his young children when they were growing up. In the conversation, which is on the Reliance Entertainment YouTube channel, Rajamouli shared that he does the opposite. He said, “Luckily for me, I keep my whole family in the film business, my wife, my son, my brother, my brother’s wife – everyone is along with me making movies, so I don’t miss my family.”
Rajamouli’s wife Rama has designed the costumes on Magadheera (2009), Eega (2012), Baahubali: The Beginning (2015), Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017), and of course, RRR. His father V Vijayendra Prasad is often the screenwriter on his films. His son Karthikeya is a producer, while his brother Kanchi Rajamouli is also a writer. Composers MM Keeravani, nominated for RRR’s Naatu Naatu at this year’s Oscars, and Kalyani Malik are his cousins.
The American director also shared that young filmmakers should talk less and listen to those more experienced around them. He urged them to seek the advice of elders, collaborate and listen to them as well. He stated, “You can’t make a movie like RRR without having everybody in a collaboration where everyone feels that they are making a contribution of the best of who they are so your movie will be the best thing they’ve made.”
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