Shubh Mukherjee on directing SS Rajamouli, his 'deep connect' with him: 'Not watched his films but..' | Exclusive

SS Rajamouli is known for creating masterpieces like Baahbali and RRR. He even recently made a cameo in Nag Ashwin's Kalki 2898 AD which collected Rs 1000 crore at the box office. Apart from Nag Ashwin, Another filmmaker, who recently directed him in an advertisement in Shubh Mukherjee.

In an exclusive interview with DNA, Shubh Mukherjee, Who has directed various celebrated personalities, including Honey Singh and Vicky Kaushal, got a standing ovation for his recent short film, Kahwa at Cannes, opened up on his experience of directing SS Rajamouli for the campaign-Cinema Is Back. 

Calling it a 'once in a blue moon' opportunity, Shubh Mukherjee shared his experience directing SS Rajamouli and revealed that he hadn't watched any of his films before directing him. He said, "Not even the opportunity but I just feel the fact that the universe wants to put both of us on the same set and I will be very honest I've not watched his films before because I'm not a very fantasy or larger-than-life film watcher. I don't watch Marvel movies, I don't watch Game of Thrones. I'm very okay and happy with simple human films and it's not that I've anything against them it's just that it's not entirely my cup of tea because i know i may not make that kind of cinema immediately." 

However, he added that he has watched his documentary on Netflix and said,  "I've watched it a couple of times and i think that connected me to him even that connected me deeper to him than his films have probably connected me to him. What really was important was that I had to be connected to him and I got so deeply connected with him watching his documentary because I could relate so much as he's come from such a humble background, and his family also come from such a humble background and they worked so hard to make movies. 

Opening up on why he related to SS Rajamouli so much, Shubh Mukherjee said, "I've had a challenging career, I've had films where the producers backed out, I've had all kinds of ups and downs myself. So to be in a position where I could call the shots I could relate so much to him and then the amount of hard work he puts on sets. He is the one as a person who knows his departments so well." 

Shubh Mukherjee revealed how he aimed at making SS Rajamouli comfortable and said, "So we got a DOP who was doing his next film, So we got the same DOP to shoot the ad, I thought there would be less chances of mistake otherwise he would get the chance to override me with questions if anything is less than perfection. So to be on the safer side I brought his telegu and upcoming film's DOP so that even if something happens the two of them will talk in telegu and sort it out but again to his brilliance not once did he override what he must do on sets without asking me and that talks so greatly about his stature and persona. He every time would ask me a question as to what next should be done and even the DOP did the same." 

He added how he learned to be humble from SS Rajamouli and said, "So I feel there's so much to take back from them, You know it reminds to just go back home put your head down and your shoulders in normal stature without flying too high that you shot an add with Rajamouli sir. The next day i'll go back to the set very normally and a lot of it has to do with my experience of working with him and being around him."

He concluded, "Not once did he override me or say don't do this do that. He was really respectful and generous and I've directed other people like big musicians Honey Singh and Harjeet Kaur and I've directed vicky kaushal and I feel that his humility speaks volumes about how great he is and you know what even if he for that matter thought that maybe he's wrong or maybe I could have done this better he gave that respect to me as a director." 

Shubh Mukherjee started working when he was just 17 and since then, he has carved out a niche for himself in feature films, documentaries, and advertisement filmmaking. He made his grand return to cinema after a 13-year hiatus with Kahwa and the film won a standing ovation at Cannes Film Festival 2024. 

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