Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Modern Masters: S.S. Rajamouli’ on Netflix, A Documentary About The World Renowned ‘RRR’ Filmmaker

Just over a year ago, RRR became a rare breakout hit from India, a country whose cinematic output far exceeds anywhere else in the world. Director S.S. Rajamouli became a global icon as Hollywood began to take notice of the Telugu filmmaker. The new Netflix documentary about the director examines his rise and labels him a “modern master.”

MODERN MASTERS: S.S. RAJAMOULI: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: After RRR became a global sensation (even in hard-to-reach markets like Japan), journalist Anupama Chopra speaks with director S.S. Rajamouli about the impact of the film’s success. She also delves into his earlier work to chart the trajectory of his career, aided by talking heads like his collaborators and even the great James Cameron.

What Will It Remind You Of?: Rajamouli’s documentary is flanked with talking heads from primarily his inner circle, kind of like Smriti Mundhra’s The Romantics did in its telling of the Yash Chopra Films empire.

Performance Worth Watching: Rajamouli’s wife Rama appears throughout, dropping small kernels about their life together as both a couple and collaborators (Rama is the costume designer on his films). When she recounts their relationship and low-key proposal, it’s the best sense of who this man is in the entire film.

Memorable Dialogue: “In Indian cinema, I don’t think there is a bigger filmmaker than S.S. Rajamouli. There isn’t, and I don’t think there will be for a while.” It’s notable that this praise comes from Hindi cinema’s Karan Johar, arguably a more prolific and household name than Rajamouli’s, which helps to center the status of the filmmaker in question in Indian circles and abroad. It also doesn’t hurt that James Cameron also appears in the film and calls him “a global cinema icon.”

Sex and Skin: None.

Our Take: S.S. Rajamouli rose to global prominence in 2022 after the release of the acclaimed RRR, and the success of that film has prompted many to return to his earlier films and watch with newfound respect. Modern Masters: S.S. Rajamouli is a documentary that sets out to chart his rise, from young son of a dreaming father to pioneering director, without delving into any thorns in the sides of his legacy.

Flanked by his inner circle—including his son, wife, cousin, and nephew who all work as collaborators in his film—Rajamouli’s story would always be framed positively. His beginnings in film are genuinely interesting and hearing the man’s rise from his own mouth is an inspiring tale. Rajamouli is depicted as a creative workhorse, a director who has his hands in every cookie jar with his sights set on perfection. This depiction, along with humble soundbites about his place in film history, make him an endearing subject to cover.

Anupama Chopra, a renowned film journalist, appears alongside Rajamouli, probing him with the questions that frame the film’s narrative. But her appearances fail to add another dimension to the film, and she’s more of a friendly face rather than a presence that pushes his answers or digs deeper. In one scene when she asks about public feedback that labeled his films as casteist, Rajamouli doesn’t have a good answer. He rambles and Chopra doesn’t push him to clarify his statements, which don’t exactly refute that label. It’s a disappointing moment that questions why Chopra is there in the first place, and reinforces the idea that this film was helmed with little expectation to push boundaries.

Of course, in a film that has already labeled him a “master,” it’s silly to expect anything critical about Rajamouli. Like The Romantics before it, the film was constructed to showcase his rise as an ambassador of Indian cinema without any examinations into the drawbacks of some of his work.

The majority of the runtime is spent discussing the popularity and awards success of RRR, showing clips of the actors learning the “Naatu Naatu” dance that transcended the film and the team winning everything from a Golden Globe to an Oscar. But for those tuning into this film, that part of the story is already common knowledge, and the runtime would have been better served delving into his earlier works that built the foundation of his practice today.

It seems like Modern Masters: SS Rajamouli is only scratching the surface of a complex man. For fans of the decorated filmmaker, maybe a nuanced take isn’t exactly what you’re looking for, but for everyone else, the documentary stops short of showing us something truly remarkable about the filmmaker.

Our Call: SKIP IT. S.S. Rajamouli is a fascinating filmmaker, but the documentary about his career is very surface level in its focus and execution.

Radhika Menon (@menonrad) is a TV-obsessed writer based in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared on Vulture, Teen Vogue, Paste Magazine, and more. At any given moment, she can ruminate at length over Friday Night Lights, the University of Michigan, and the perfect slice of pizza. You may call her Rad.