Even though SS Rajamouli's magnum opus 'Baahubali' (Telugu version) was recently nominated for International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards, the director said he was not interested in awards and did not "see any value" for them.
Rajamouli, whose blockbuster has become one of the biggest grossers in India's film industry, was talking to reporters at Kovalam.
The director was in Kerala to attend the wedding of the daughter of his friend Dr AV Guruvareddy, an orthopaedician based in Hyderabad. The Baahubali director shared about the bonding he has with the state.
"I am not interested in awards. I don't see any value for them," he said when asked for his reaction to the nomination of the Telugu version of "Baahubali" for the International Indian Film Academy awards.
"I do not attend any award functions. However, I will be extremely happy if my technicians or people associated with the film win an award. It will be a motivation for them."
Rajamouli also hailed 'God's Own Country' Kerala as a filmmaker's paradise.
"Kerala is sculptured in such a way that it is beautiful in every corner of the state. The best thing about Kerala is that we need not wander more for locations. It is a filmmaker's paradise," he said.
"When the story of Baahubali came to my mind, I wanted to capture the ferocity and hugeness of Athirapally as against the placidity and calmness that is exploited most in the movies shot here," he said.
Rajamouli reminisced that his stint with Kerala dates back to the 1980s when he visited Sabarimala.
He had fallen in love with the greenery since then. It is this love for greenery that made him shoot his three movies- "Simhadri", "Sai" and "Baahubali" - in Thiruvananthapuram, Munnar and Athirapally, respectively.
"I love Kerala's ambience, greenery, infrastructure, and environment and it should be treated as one of the topmost destinations in the world for destination weddings," he noted.
Tourism Secretary Kamala Vardhana Rao said alluring spots in Kerala like Munnar, Kochi and Kovalam are increasingly becoming locations for destination weddings, which would help development of tourism sector in the state.
He also said he had used clippings from Baahubali to showcase Kerala's beauty for promoting the state's film tourism among Chinese film producers in Beijing.
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