I am a better storyteller than director: SS Rajamouli

Mangaluru: Film-maker SS Rajamouli, whose Baahubali series had won over crowds of audience across the world, says he feels he is a better storyteller than a director.

"I am a fantastic storyteller. I narrate the character in the best way to my actors and they get interested in it. I also ask them how the character would react to a particular situation," he said.

Interacting with students of the Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT) held as part of their diamond jubilee lecture series at Manipal yesterday, he said mythology was in his blood. 

He had grown up reading Balaramayana, 'Amar Chitra Katha' comics and books on kings which were available in Telugu, he said. The director said the character he liked the most in Mahabharatha was that of Karna.

"I used to get goosebumps and tears in my eyes reading his story," he said. To a question, he said story and screenplay were more important than cinematography in a film.

The importance of story in a movie would come around 80 percent and cinematography 20 percent, he said. With his experience, Rajamouli said he could now decide which actor should be doing the role of a particular character. Earlier, he used to select actors after doing the script.