SS Rajamouli turns a year older, 25 years after his Student No. 1 debut

SS Rajamouli celebrates his birthday today. It has been 25 years since he directed his first feature film, Student No. 1, which came out on September 27, 2001.

He did not start out on the big screen. Rajamouli first worked in television before he moved into Telugu films. Over the years since, he has become a director known around the world, and his influence now reaches past box office records and awards.

Three things run through his work: a sharp sense of what audiences want, emotional storytelling and new ideas in the technical side of filmmaking. Together they have made him one of the most influential directors in Indian cinema.

Next up is Varanasi. Mahesh Babu leads the film, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Prithviraj Sukumaran are also in the cast.

The film mixes adventure and mythology with elements of time travel, all told on a large visual scale. Expectations are running very high once again, as the director moves into ground he has not covered before.