2001–2008: Film debut and breakthrough

In 2001, Raghavendra Rao offered Rajamouli the chance to direct a feature film for his production
house titled, Student No: 1, which the latter accepted.[22] Raghavendra Rao provided the screenplay
in addition to supervising the direction. Rajamouli later regretted not working for a longer time as an
assistant director. "When I made my first film Student No: 1, I didn't know how to use
a crane because I never used a crane while I was doing my TV serial."[48][49] Student No:1 was a coming
of age romantic action film and was the second film of Jr. NTR in a lead role. Rajamouli would go onto
collaborate with Jr. NTR in three more films. Released on 27 September 2001, the film marked the
official debut of SS Rajamouli as a director; the film went on to become a critical and commercial
success, and was Jr. NTR's first successful film.[50]

Rajamouli's second film was Simhadri (2003), again with Jr. NTR. After his first film, he realised that
the kind of films he wanted to make had more drama and action, and so he made Simhadri,
an action film.[47] It marked Rajamouli's first collaboration with his father Vijayendra Prasad who
provided the story. Simhadri was also the first film penned by Rajamouli. The film emerged as a
blockbuster and became one of the highest grossing Telugu films ever at the time.[51]

In the two-year gap between Student No.1 and Simhadri, Rajamouli planned his first mythological
film with Malayalam actor Mohanlal, but the film eventually got shelved.[52] In 2015, Assistant art
director Manu Jagath, who later worked as the art director for Baahubali, released several sketches
he had drawn for the shelved Mohanlal project.[53] During the same period he was also supposed to
direct a fantasy film with Prakash Kovelamudi as the lead but the film was shelved due to financial
reasons.[30][22][27]

Rajamouli's third film was Sye (2004), starring Nithin and Genelia. He recalls, "I got plenty of offers
after the success of Simhadri. But I deliberately made a decision not to make an emotionally charged
mass film like Simhadri immediately. I don't want to get branded as mass director. Hence I did Sye,
which is radically different compared to Simhadri."[30] It was a first-of-its-kind film in Telugu cinema, in
that it was based on the sport of Rugby. This film was also the first instance where Rajamouli
collaborated with K. K. Senthil Kumar who would eventually work with him on seven more films.
[54]
Sye was commercially successful and won four Nandi Awards. Sye made a huge impact on the
Telugu popular culture through its popularisation of Rugby to the masses.[55]

His next venture was Chatrapathi (2005), an action drama set in Vizag dealing with the plight of
refugees. Chatrapathi starred Prabhas in the lead role with music composed by M. M. Keeravani and
cinematography by Senthil Kumar. It was Rajamouli's fourth consecutive hit and became one of the
highest grossing Telugu films of the year.[56]

In his next project Vikramarkudu (2006), Rajamouli worked with Ravi Teja and Anushka Shetty.
Rajamouli was attacked during the shooting of the film near Nanakramguda in Hyderabad. He
suffered a hairline fracture on his hand and was admitted into a nearby Apollo hospital.[57]
[58]
Vikramarkudu was a breakthrough film for Anushka Shetty. This is the one film that people
believed Ravi Teja dominated the direction of Rajamouli. The film was screened at the International
Film Festival of India in the mainstream section.[59] The film was a big success and was remade into
several Indian languages including Kannada as Veera Madakari (2009), Tamil as Siruthai (2011),
and Hindi as Rowdy Rathore (2012).[60]

He then directed Yamadonga (2007), a fantasy action comedy film starring Jr NTR, Priyamani, Mohan
Babu, and Mamata Mohandas. The plot follows Raja, a thief who is killed by his rivals. Raja's soul
travels to Naraka (hell) to face the trial for his sins by Yama, the Hindu god of death and justice. The
film was successful at the box-office and became one of the highest grossing Telugu films ever at the
time.[51][61]

Rajamouli started his own production company Visvamithra Creations named after the ancient Indian
sage Visvamitra. Prabhas acted as Visvamitra for the logo shoot of the company.[62] Yamadonga was
produced under the Visvamithra Creations banner but the producers were Cherry and Urmila
Gunnam with Rama Rajamouli presenting the film.[63]

2009–2014: Critical acclaim and recognition

Rajamouli's next venture was the fantasy-action film Magadheera (2009), starring Ram
Charan and Kajal Aggarwal. Made on a budget of ₹35–44 crore (US$7–10 million), it was the most
expensive Telugu film at the time.[a] It was the first Telugu film to list a "visual effects producer" in its
credits. Magadheera became one of the biggest commercial successes in Telugu cinema and was the
highest-grossing Telugu film at the end of its theatrical run.[67][68] For Magadheera, Rajamouli won
the Nandi Award for Best Director and Filmfare Award for Best Director – Telugu. The film also won
the National Award for Best Choreography and Best Special Effects at the 57th National Film
Awards and a total of six Filmfare Awards South and nine Nandi Awards.[69] The film's success
catapulted both the leads into stardom.

Magadheera was dubbed into Tamil as Maaveeran and into Malayalam as Dheera: The Warrior and
was released on 27 May 2011.[70] Both the dubbed versions were successful and earned a good fan
base for Ram Charan in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.[71] The Japanese-dubbed version of the film released
in August 2018 and became one of the highest-grossing Indian films ever at the Japanese box office.
[72][71]

In 2010 he directed the action comedy film Maryada Ramanna starring Sunil and Saloni. Rajamouli
watched the 1923 silent comedy film Our Hospitality and liked it immensely. He wanted to re-tell the
same story in his own way. He tried to contact the original creators but found out that the original
writers of the film were long dead and that the film's copyright had expired as it had been over 75
years since the film's release. His cousin S. S. Kanchi and him then adapted that story with
a Rayalaseema backdrop focusing on the factional violence and hospitality that co-existed in the
region.[73][74] Regarding his decision to make a small film like Maryada Ramanna he remarked, "I
decided that my next project would be Maryada Ramanna during Magadheera shooting itself
because Magadheera is a one and half year project that demands lot of physical labour and mental
strain. I didn't want to commit another physically exhausting film immediately after Magadheera."[75]

Maryada Ramanna opened to favourable reviews from critics. It became one of the highest grossing
Telugu films of 2010.[76][77][78] It received four Nandi Awards, including Best Popular Feature
Film. Maryada Ramanna was remade in Hindi as Son of Sardaar and into other languages like
Kannada, Bengali, Tamil, and Malayalam.[75][79] In 2012 Rajamouli stated in an interview with Maa TV
that Maryada Ramanna was his personal favourite among all the films he had directed.[80]
 Sudeep, Nani, and Rajamouli on the sets of Eega

His next project was the fantasy action film Eega (2012). The film was produced by Sai
Korrapati's Vaaraahi Chalana Chitram with an estimated budget of ₹30–40 crore (US$6–7 million). It
was simultaneously filmed in Tamil language with the title Naan Ee (transl. I, the Fly). The film
stars Nani, Samantha, and Sudeep. The idea of Eega originated in the mid-1990s in Vijayendra
Prasad's mind. At that time, he was joking about a housefly seeking revenge on a human in a
conversation with his son Rajamouli.[81] After completing Maryada Ramanna, Rajamouli reconsidered
the concept after thinking of directing a film that was distinct from any other.[82] He explained it thus:

When I started making films, I stuck to formula films for a while which did well at the box office. After
a while, I was getting too comfortable with what I was doing, so I wanted to experiment with
something completely different. I wanted to take the audience by surprise and that is when I went
back to the story I had heard 16 years ago.[83]

Upon release, the film received widespread critical acclaim including for Rajamouli's direction. It
became one of the highest-grossing Telugu films of all time. The Tamil version Naan Ee and
Malayalam version Eecha were also big hits at the box office.[84] The Hindi dubbed
version Makkhi underperformed at the box office which Rajamouli attributed to a poor promotional
strategy. But the satellite rights of Makkhi were sold at a price of ₹8 crore to Star Gold, by far the
highest price ever paid for the Hindi dub of a Telugu film at the time.[85]

Eega was screened at various international film festivals including the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.
[b]
The Telugu version won nine awards, including Most Original Film at the 8th annual Toronto After
Dark Film Festival.[86] Eega won two National Film Awards (Best Feature Film in Telugu and Best
Special Effects) and five South Filmfare Awards including Best Telugu Film and Best Telugu Director.
Speaking at an event, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur said regional cinema is surpassing Hindi cinema in
content and story, and cited Eega as an example. Kapur said he was impressed with its story and use
of technology, and called it "no less than a Hollywood superhero film".[87] Eega was listed among
"The 25 Best Foreign Films of the Decade" by The Ringer.[88]