SS Rajamouli shot his most violent scene with Jr NTR outside Kerala Assembly: ‘Running with an axe...'

More than two decades ago, a young Jr NTR sprinted past the Kerala Legislative Assembly with an axe, cutting down enemies as cameras rolled. SS Rajamouli now says that sequence from Simhadri (2003) remains the most violent he has ever filmed, and he isn't sure anyone would get permission to shoot it there today.

The filmmaker shared the story while promoting Don't Trouble The Trouble, the upcoming Fahadh Faasil film produced by his son, SS Karthikeya.

Ten days in Trivandrum

Speaking with Fahadh, Karthikeya, Sangeeth Prathap and Shyam Mohan, Rajamouli looked back on taking his second film to Kerala. "I shot Simhadri in Kerala. I don't know whether it's possible now or not, because we shot in front of the Assembly. We shot the hero running in front of the assembly with an axe and killing people. I think we were here for about ten days," he said.

Karthikeya stepped in to point out how much that sequence stands out in his father's filmography: "I think that was his most violent action episode ever. I don't think you have shot anything more violent than that afterwards. It was his most violent scene, and in front of the Assembly." Rajamouli didn't argue: "Yeah, definitely."

Why Kerala?

Fahadh wanted to know what drew the production to Trivandrum. The answer, it turns out, came from a single name. "In the story, he has to come out of Andhra and go to a separate place; we thought of Kerala. It all came with the word Singamalai. Actually, it's a Tamil word, but at that time, we were like, people won't know Tamil, Malayalam. So we just shot it," Rajamouli admitted, drawing laughs from the group.

The film that changed two careers

Simhadri was only the second collaboration between Rajamouli and Jr NTR, following their 2001 debut together, Student No 1. It went on to reshape both their trajectories. The story follows Simhadri, an orphan raised by a landlord, who quietly watches over the landlord's estranged granddaughter Indu, who has lost her memory. As the plot unfolds, he is revealed to be Singamalai, a vigilante hailed in Kerala as a protector of the vulnerable. The cast also included Bhumika Chawla, Ankitha, Mukesh Rishi, Nassar and Rahul Dev. Its success led to a Tamil remake, Gajendra (2004), and a Kannada one, Kanteerava (2012).

What's next for both

Since teaming up again on 2022's RRR, the two have taken different paths. Jr NTR headlined Devara: Part 1 (2024), which drew mixed reviews but did well commercially. His Hindi debut, Ayan Mukerji's War 2 (2025) with Hrithik Roshan and Kiara Advani, fell flat both critically and commercially. He is currently filming Prashanth Neel's Dragon, slated for 2027.

Rajamouli is also aiming for a 2027 release with Varanasi, which stars Mahesh Babu, Priyanka Chopra and Prithviraj Sukumaran.