‘RRR’ director SS Rajamouli reacts to reports of him supporting BJP agenda

SS Rajamouli's magnum opus ‘RRR’ received critical acclaim and won hearts of millions around the world. However, the film, which is a fictional story based on the lives of two Telugu freedom fighters, Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem, also received criticism with regards to the political agenda the story caters to. Many people accused the director of supporting the BJP agenda.

In a recent interview with The New Yorker, the filmmaker reacted to the accusations. Rajamouli was asked if there was ‘pressure being put on you, whether anti-Muslim or pro-nationalist, from BJP supporters or even the RSS.’

Rajamouli said, ‘No, never directly, never.’ He said that no one had ‘ever approached me to make an agenda film, whatever the agenda is.’ He said, ‘Sometimes Muslims have had objections, sometimes Hindus, sometimes different castes.’ The director added that he wanted to ‘distance’ himself ‘from either Hindu or pseudo-liberal propaganda.’

Explaining the ideas behind the stories of ‘Baahubali’ and ‘RRR’, Rajamouli said, ‘First of all, everyone knows the Baahubali movies are fictional, so there is nothing for me to say about whether it is a distortion of history to portray historic characters to suit the present BJP’s agenda. As for RRR, this is not a documentary. This is not a historical lesson. It’s a fictional take on characters, which has been done many times in the past. We also just talked about Mayabazar — if RRR is a distortion of history, Mayabazar is a distortion of the historic epic .’

Rajamouli added, ‘I’d also like to point out one more thing to people who accuse me of supporting the BJP or the BJP’s agenda: when we first released an early character design of Bheem, I showed him wearing a Muslim skullcap [to disguise himself]. After that, a BJP leader threatened to burn down theatres showing RRR, and said he would beat me in the road if we didn’t remove the cap. So people can decide for themselves whether I’m a BJP person or not.’

He concluded saying, ‘I hate extremism, whether it is the BJP, Muslim League, or whatever. I hate extreme people in any section of society. That is the simplest explanation that I can give.’
‘RRR’, starring Ram Charan and Jr NTR, is written by celebrated screenwriter Vijayendra Prasad, father of SS Rajamouli. The film's supporting cast include Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt, Ray Stevenson, Olivia Morris, Alison Doody and Samuthirakani.

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