The inspiring journey of Mahesh Babu from being a star’s son to super star

Mahesh Babu, the name is just enough to remind anyone in India of the tall and every young super star of our Tollywood. Although he has never been a direct part of movies of any other industry, he as an actor is famous across the nation and not to forget how most Bollywood actresses mention his name when asked about their favorite star down south. But was it all a cake walk? A definite no! Being the son of yester-generation’s super star Krishna and having ravishing looks weren’t just enough to bring him success. All the worked was PERSEVERANCE! Yes, here’s a look into the inspiring journey of Mahesh Babu:

Filmy Background and easy debut:
As the son of Krishna, film was a passion he had since his childhood. At a very tender age of 4, he made his film debut under Dasari Narayana Rao. After that he did a couple of movies as a child actor before going for his further studies. From Gudachari 117 to Bala Chandrudu, most of his movies were commercially successful, but yet he was still under the shadow of being Krishna’s son.

Debut as a hero:
In 1999 he debuted as a hero in Raja Kumarudu, after which he got the name of Prince. Under the director of Raghvendra Rao, the movie had Priety Zinta as the other lead. This debut was the only thing that came easily to him. If there was anything that his father’s reputation made easier for him, it is undoubtedly only his easy debut.

The weak phase:
Right from Rajakumarudu, none of his movies that followed were commercial hits. Except for his well-acclaimed performance in Murari, most of his initial films failed at the box office creating a black period in his career. Yuvaraju, Takkari Donga, Vamsy and Bobby were all rejected at the box-office. Never taken aback by these failures, Mahesh took time to retrospect and went forward with the next project.

Finding his love:
His love story with Namrata, whom he met on the sets of Vamsy is completely adorable. It was probably this decision that helped in the making of a super star!

Bulls Eye with Okkadu:
Not many bounce back after continuous failures. Mahesh amazed everyone with not just a comeback, but also industry records! Made under the direction of Gunashekar, Okkadu was the biggest blockbusters of the year and set many records. This movie also paved the path of starhood to Mahesh Babu.

Back to pavilion again:
Expectations were quite high on him after Okkadu. But wrong choices made him get back to pavilion again. Although Athadu is a movie enjoyed even today, it was commercially a flop. So were Nijam and Arjun. Gosspimongers even started calling him a flop hero.

Movie that made him the super star:
The release of Pokiri made him the star that he is. It was again the biggest hit of the industry and then there was no stopping further.

After that regardless of his movie being a hit or flop, he is always celebrated as a superstar and is the most bankable star of the generation. His journey of ups and downs are a great lesson to anyone who dreams big and fails at times to succeed finally.

Rajamouli & his style of film-making

It’s been 30 days since Baahubali has released and we, as film lovers, aren’t yet over the magic of the movie. Baahubali is undoubtedly one of the best things that has happened to Telugu Film Industry in the past few decades. The records it has set, the countries it has gone and the reputation it has bought to the Telugu industry is magnanimous and Rajamouli garu does deserve a million standing ovations for this.
Like every movie maker, Rajamouli has his own style. Right from his very first movie, he has been following a style that has been loved by not just the telugu audience but also by most other industries. After having watched the Baahubali duo a couple of times, I have found a few interesting similarities between Baahubali and his previous movies which explains a lot about his style of film-making. Here are they –

1) The strong flashback:
This is the basic context of most of Rajamouli’s movie is a flashback. Right from Student No. 1, it’s mostly been the flashback that brings a push to the whole story becoming the root cause of the story. With more than two halves of the duo being covered by the the flashback, isn’t it true that flashback is the biggest strength of Rajamouli!
2) Revenge Revenge:
Revenge is one thing that none (ah, almost) of his movies miss. The strong flashback is followed by revenge which is even powerful. Even Eega was all about the revenge of a fly, which can’t narrate its flashback though. It’s only the one who takes the revenge that changes and it’s the son of the dead guy in Baahubali.
3) Close up shots of bloods, silhouette shots in front of son:
Only a few film makers can succeed in adding art to every frame and Rajamouli is one such. While most of his movies demand violence and bloodshed, the beautiful style in which he shows the blood spills is truly artistic and lovely.
Also, the silhouette shots used in various movies by Rajamouli are quite interesting.
4) Almost-failure:
Probably with an aim to showcase more reality, the protagonists of Rajamouli never win at the very step. Most of them reach an almost-death stage before bouncing back and winning. As far as I can remember none of his movies missed it.

5) Loyalty:
Almost all his movies have one character that is loyal to the core – loyal to the family or to a person or to an ideology or wait even to a college. This loyalty becomes a part of the story and often leads to the actual story.
6) Strong villain:
We don’t even need an explanation for this, do we? From Rana to Raj Bihari, every villain of Rajamouli has been a sensation that has given serious villainy goals to other movie directors.

Not just these, there are more similarities between most of his movies like an introduction song for the hero, a semi-grade character, an epic interval sequence etc., He is definitely not just a marketer as many chide, he is also a talented film maker.