S. S. Rajamouli has directed only twelve feature films, and not one of them has been a flop. He started with Telugu mass entertainers, built a reputation for inventive action and emotional stakes, and then, with Baahubali and RRR, became the Indian director whose films travel the world. “Naatu Naatu” from RRR won the Oscar for Best Original Song.

Here is every Rajamouli film in order, our ranking and the best place to start.

Rajamouli movies in order

  1. Student No. 1 (2001). His debut, starring N. T. Rama Rao Jr. A young man studying law carries a past he cannot escape. It launched the long partnership between the director and NTR Jr.
  2. Simhadri (2003). NTR Jr. again, as a gentle man with a violent hidden history. A huge mass hit and one of the biggest Telugu films of its time.
  3. Sye (2004). Rival college gangs settle a land dispute through rugby. An unusual sports action film with Nithin and Genelia.
  4. Chatrapathi (2005). Prabhas plays a refugee separated from his mother as a child, who rises to protect his community. Their first film together, years before Baahubali.
  5. Vikramarkudu (2006). Ravi Teja in a double role: a small-time con man and a fearless police officer who look exactly alike. Later remade in Hindi as Rowdy Rathore.
  6. Yamadonga (2007). A thief ends up in the afterlife and takes on Yama, the god of death. A colourful fantasy comedy with NTR Jr.
  7. Magadheera (2009). A reincarnation love story spanning 400 years, with Ram Charan. It became the highest-grossing Telugu film at the time and showed Rajamouli’s gift for spectacle.
  8. Maryada Ramanna (2010). A small, clever comedy: a timid man realises he is a guest in the house of a family sworn to kill him. It was inspired by Buster Keaton’s Our Hospitality.
  9. Eega (2012). A murdered man is reborn as a housefly and takes revenge on his killer. A brilliantly original idea, and a winner of two National Film Awards.
  10. Baahubali: The Beginning (2015). A young man discovers his royal heritage in the kingdom of Mahishmati. The first Telugu film to win the National Film Award for Best Feature Film.
  11. Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017). The epic’s second half answers the famous question from the first film. It became the first Indian film to gross more than ₹1,000 crore.
  12. RRR (2022). Two revolutionaries in 1920s India, played by NTR Jr. and Ram Charan, form an unlikely friendship. A global phenomenon and an Oscar winner for “Naatu Naatu”.

A note on Baahubali: The Epic. In October 2025, Rajamouli re-released the two Baahubali films as a single re-edited cut of about three hours and 45 minutes. It is a good option for newcomers, but the original two films are still the complete version.

Our ranking

  1. RRR: pure cinematic joy, with some of the most inventive action in any modern blockbuster.
  2. Baahubali 2: The Conclusion: the payoff, bigger and more emotional than the first.
  3. Eega: the purest example of his imagination, and the one to show sceptics.
  4. Baahubali: The Beginning: world-building on a scale Indian cinema had not attempted before.
  5. Magadheera: the film where the spectacle-maker fully arrived.
  6. Maryada Ramanna: proof he can do small and clever too.
  7. Yamadonga: great fun, anchored by NTR Jr.’s energy.
  8. Vikramarkudu: a mass entertainer with a great double role.
  9. Chatrapathi: rough in places, but important to his Prabhas partnership.
  10. Simhadri: pure early-2000s mass cinema.
  11. Sye: a bold idea that has aged less well.
  12. Student No. 1: a solid debut, mainly of interest to completists.

Where to start

  • New to Rajamouli? Start with RRR. It is his most accessible film for any audience.
  • Want the epic? Watch both Baahubali films back to back, ideally on the biggest screen you have.
  • Want something different? Try Eega or Maryada Ramanna to see his range.

Most of his films are available dubbed in several Indian languages, and his last four had major multi-language releases.

What’s next: Varanasi (April 2027)

Rajamouli’s next film, Varanasi, is set for release on April 7, 2027. It stars Mahesh Babu, with Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Prithviraj Sukumaran, and is billed as a globe-trotting action adventure spanning thousands of years, in the vein of Indiana Jones. M. M. Keeravani, who won the Oscar for “Naatu Naatu”, is again composing the music. Rajamouli has also long spoken about eventually adapting the Mahabharata as a multi-part epic.

Where to go next

For more Telugu cinema, see our Best Telugu Movies guide. If you love his action, our Best Action Movies list includes RRR and Baahubali 2 alongside the best from around the world.