Nassar & S. S. Rajamouli Movies Together List — 4 Films

The shape of the work

The 2000s belonged to Simhadri; the 2020s to Bāhubali: The Epic. Nassar acted in every film; S. S. Rajamouli directed all of them. Strictly Telugu cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Rajamouli cast Nassar in Simhadri (2003) after being impressed by his performance in the Tamil film 'Bombay' (1995). Nassar was initially hesitant about doing a Telugu film, but Rajamouli personally convinced him over a phone call.
• On the sets of Baahubali (2015), Nassar would often improvise his dialogue in Tamil, and Rajamouli would then translate and adapt it into Telugu on the spot. This gave Kattappa's lines a raw, organic feel that the director felt a scripted version couldn't match.
• The success of Baahubali 2 (2017) directly led to Nassar being cast in the Hollywood film 'The Last Full Measure' (2019). The casting director later said they wanted 'the actor who played Kattappa' because of his global recognition from the Baahubali franchise.
• Nassar and Rajamouli share a tradition: before every film's first day shoot, Nassar gives Rajamouli a small handmade wooden toy from his hometown in Tamil Nadu. Rajamouli keeps all of them on a shelf in his office.
• "Nassar sir doesn't just act — he becomes the character. When he cried as Kattappa in Baahubali, I cried behind the monitor. That's the kind of actor he is." — S. S. Rajamouli, during a 2017 press meet for Baahubali 2.