When RRR Director SS Rajamouli Went To Find Original Creators (Who Didn’t Exist) Of A Film He Wanted To Take Inspiration From, Defining ‘Copying’ & ‘Adapting’
Known for churning out several hits, did you know SS Rajamouli once adapted a film from a Hollywood classic?
Did You Know? SS Rajamouli Once Adapted A Hollywood Silent Slapstick Classic For Big Screen! ( Photo Credit – Facebook )
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SS Rajamouli is a name known across the globe thank to his masterpiece – especially the recently released RRR with Jr NTR and Ram Charan. The ace filmmaker turns a year older today and to celebrate the special day, we decided to bring you a trivia story about him from 2012.
Known for churning out hits like Chatrapathi, Magadheera, Eega (Makhi) Baahubali and RRR, did you know the filmmaker once adapted a film from a Hollywood classic? Your read that right. Rajamouli in a past conversation opened up about adapting a Hollywood silent slapstick classic and revealed what he thinks of filmmakers adapting and copying other films.
In a 2012 conversation with Times Of India, SS Rajamouli spoke about filmmakers lifting secondary material for their projects. He said, “I think there’s a very thin line between copying and adapting. I think it’s okay to use material from earlier films. As long as it doesn’t hurt the original creator we can use it.” Giving an example of doing it himself with Maryada Ramanna, the RRR maker said, “In so many films of mine I’ve used scenes and shots inspired by earlier films.”
SS Rajamouli continued, “My Maryada Ramanna (now remade into Son Of Sardar) was inspired by a 1923 Buster Keaton silent film Our Hospitality. One could say I copied the film. I don’t mind. When I saw the original I liked it so much I wanted to re-tell the same story on my own way.”
Revealing how he made his adaptation, the filmmaker said, “I even tried to find the original creators. But no one existed. The original writers died in the 1930s. Technically any material that has existed for more than 75 years can be used without a copyright claim. But if you use material in Hindi film from a contemporary Punjabi, Oriya or Telugu film you need to take permission.”
Released in 2010, Maryada Ramanna was co-written and directed by SS Rajamouli while Sunil, Saloni and Nagineedu played pivotal roles in it. S. S. Kanchi and Rajamouli adapted the 1923 Our Hospitality with a Rayalaseema backdrop focusing on the factional violence and hospitality that co-existed in the region.
