When a Telugu filmmaker ropes in Mahesh Babu for their movie, the euphoria around the project increases automatically but when the news of a director like SS Rajamouli teaming up with Mahesh surfaced, the excitement was palpable. Mahesh and Rajamouli make for an interesting director-actor duo in the Telugu film industry, owing to their combined brand value. While the actor is known to rule the Telugu states, Rajamouli is a global presence with the RRR euphoria and the success at the Oscars. Does this mean Mahesh is ready to step out of his territory and go pan-India?
Born to superstar Krishna and his wife Indira Devi, Mahesh made his acting debut in 1979 film Needa. His first movie as an adult actor was Raja Kumarudu (1999) and there was no turning back. While the actor gave superhit Telugu films like Pokiri, Athadu, Dookudu, he always stayed within his Telugu territories till now, unlike his peers Ram Charan, Allu Arjun, Prabhas, Rana Daggubati and even megastar Chiranjeevi who experimented with Hindi films.
In 2022, Mahesh had famously said during a press meet, “I don’t need to do Hindi films. I can just do a Telugu film and it’ll get seen all over the world – that’s what’s happening right now. You’d want to be in a position to do (only) a Telugu film.” The actor is known for his love for cinema and it is understood among his peers that everything he does comes from a place of extreme love for films. Producer Sharath Chandra, who worked as a co-producer 2022 film Major with Mahesh, explains the thought process behind his decision making.
He tells indianexpress.com, “With my experience of working with Mahesh sir, I think he is a passionate film lover. Films take maximum amount of his time and mind and heart and that is the only thing he thinks about. Even as a producer I don’t think I remember even once when he spoke about money. He only talks about creatives. Every decision he makes and everything he does stems from that. I feel that is the cornerstone of everything and that is the reason he is a superstar because of his undying passion and hard work.”
So, it seems that the collaboration with SS Rajamouli is not a hasty decision on the actor’s part, in fact Rajamouli can be considered the only filmmaker who can safely take the actor outside of his comfort zone.
Chennai-based trade analyst Ramesh Bala decodes the actor’s move and tells us, “If you look at Rajamouli’s films, Baahubali and RRR have done well in Telugu. Prabhas in Baahubali and Ram Charan and Jr NTR went pan-India after their release. It hasn’t affected them, rather it has helped them solidify their Telugu base as well as both the movies did well pan-India also. So, Mahesh Babu has his home base covered with Rajamouli. He is a Telugu star and Rajamouli also comes from the Telugu industry so its going to be Telugu plus rest of the India strategy because of Brand Rajamouli.”
The only exception to Mahesh’s love for his Telugu success streak was 2017 Tamil-Telugu bilingual Spyder, which was directed by AR Murugadoss. With his Rajamouli film, Mahesh is finally bound to land in Hindi-speaking territories as well as other Southern mainstream languages. The actor will finally enter the Hindi film industry, something that he chose to not do in all these years.
“If he makes a debut with a Karan Johar or with another Bollywood director, then it would be a completely different story. Then he would be completely abandoning Telugu roots and directly acting in Hindi movies. But Rajamouli and Mahesh Babu are both from Hyderabad and Telugu film industry so its not the same thing. So hopefully, he will have to promote the film in Mumbai and pan India. Certainly with this set-up, he will be expanding even in South, everything will be new for him,” adds Ramesh.
For an actor, who has never promoted any of his films in Bollywood or became part of it in any way, Mahesh Babu will definitely be testing new waters. However, it shouldn’t be a matter of worry for the star as he already has a strong brand value.
Trade analyst Taran Adarsh explains, “I think Mahesh Babu has already cultivated a strong fan-base in the Hindi belt. Though he has been predominantly doing Telugu films all his life but people have access to OTT today. So, like Allu Arjun and Prabhas, Mahesh Babu too has developed a very huge fan base. Those who love watching Telugu films, including me, I think he is a complete actor. Of course he is blessed with good looks and that is just one point but his persona, screen presence, his action, his dances makes it a complete package. I think he knows how to play with his strengths, be it any role you give him.”
The much-awaited Mahesh Babu-SS Rajamouli film is written by V Vijayendra Prasad, who earlier called the movie a “globe-trotting action entertainer. It will be like a James Bond or Indiana Jones film with Indian roots.”
