The thought of ‘freedom’ is the hero of the film ‘RRR’, star director S.S. Rajamouli said on Friday. The star cast of one of the most anticipated movies — Telugu superstars Junior NTR, Ramcharan, and Bollywood actress Alia Bhat were here for the promotion of ‘RRR’ which would also be released in Kannada language.

Answering a question on who is the hero of the film, Rajamouli said: “The thought of freedom is the hero of the film… the thought that we should be independent, and rule ourselves.”

Talking about the role of Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn in RRR, Rajamouli said, his character will create a huge impact. “I think the source of the film starts from that character and you will see that in the film. It will be difficult to take it out of your heart,” he said while interacting with the reporters here.

Rajamouli said: “Traditionally, Ramcharan and Junior NTR belong to superstar families and their fans have the feeling of rivalry. It was a challenge to make a film casting both. However, apart from rivalry, these two are good friends and they have no egos with each other. Their friendship is translated on to the screen.”

Alia Bhat said her dream has come true and she came to the film sets as a “clean slate”. She explained that for one and a half years, she worked on her language to act in this film.

When asked about the “torture” by Rajamouli as a director, Junior NTR said he was “tortured very much”. Alia, however, said she has been through a lovely experience to which Junior NTR said: “She was not there in ‘Halli naatu’ song… she would have experienced it had she been there.”

Ramcharan recalled how Rajamouli took the entire film crew to Europe to rehearse for the song ‘Halli naatu’. After 10 days of rehearsal, the shoot began on the 11th day.

Junior NTR said he has seen Rajamouli for 20 years. “I have never seen him with regards to action sequences like that in the RRR movie.”