RRR is the crowd-pleasingest thrill ride you didn’t know you had to see
The Telugu-language epic meshes cultural specificity with cinematic conventions from across the globe to create transcendent entertainment
Film Features RRR
There is an amazing film in limited release that you probably haven’t even heard of: RRR.
Full of colorful heroes, fiendish villains, staggering action sequences, dizzying dance numbers, and most of all, virtuous friendship, driven by feverish creativity and a sharp and unambiguous sense of pride for India’s people and their history, writer-director S. S. Rajamouli’s Telugu-language epic is quickly becoming the word-of-mouth sensation of the year. What Top Gun: Maverick brought to theaters upon its release in May—that joyful sense of escapism, cinematic derring-do and an expert manipulation of its audience’s heartstrings—RRR does just as well on an even larger scale, if that’s possible. And on the big screen or small, you simply must see it.
Not to be confused with Hindi-language standard bearer Bollywood, Telugu cinema, often called “Tollywood,” is a segment of Indian cinema created and produced in its namesake language. There are some similarities between Hindi and Telugu films, including vivid colors, ambitious musical numbers and operatic storytelling, but this film in particular shares almost as much in common with Hong Kong and American action films, and a worldwide interest in historical fiction. There are many reasons that Telugu films don’t often make this kind of impression of American audiences—starting with the fact that so few of them get international distribution. But particularly in the wake of Maverick’s needle-threading take on ‘80s nostalgia, RRR feels like exactly the kind of movie that audiences want, even need, right now.
Even without the fearless movie stardom of someone like Tom Cruise at the helm, its relentless capacity to please crowds, first in its initial release, then special-event screenings, and finally, as a part of Netflix’s streaming library (albeit in a different language), has catapulted it from appealing counterprogramming to a tremendous and seemingly indefatigable international sensation. While it’s undeniably a product of the film community, and industry, for which it was originally conceived, its growing and deserved success underscores the expansion of cinema as a platform for exploring different cultures and different traditions, as well as for the universality of a well-told story.
The story of enemies who become best friends
Set in 1920s India, the film stars N. T. Rama Rao Jr. as Bheem, a warrior and protector of the Gond tribe who comes to Delhi to rescue a young girl named Malli (Twinkle Sharma) after she is abducted by tyrannical British governor Scott Buxton (Ray Stevenson) and his wife Catherine (Alison Doody). When a regional official warns the Brits about Bheem’s mission, Buxton solicits a volunteer, Officer A. Rama Raju (Ram Charan), to apprehend him in exchange for a promotion in the ranks of the state police. Although Bheem disguises his identity, the two men cross paths while rescuing a young boy from a train crash, and they soon develop a powerful friendship without realizing that they’re actually adversaries.
While cinema both locally and worldwide engages in an ongoing referendum about representation, diversity, and the idea of exactly “who certain stories are for,” RRR exemplifies the opportunity that a moviegoer can and should have multiple access points to a film even if they’re foreign to the country or culture that created it. Suffice it to say that Rajamouli’s film doesn’t paint a particularly flattering portrait of Britain’s rule of India; Stevenson and Doody are callous and cruel. But RRR’s sense of nationalism should feel familiar to anyone who’s watched a rah-rah movie about America (or China or…), and its emphasis on the liberation of the Indian people could easily be translated—or transplanted—to more recognizable shores and situations. And yet the film takes its inspiration from the identities of two real-life Indian revolutionaries, Komaram Bheem and Alluri Sitarama Raju, and employs some broad historical details to give this opus a specificity and sense of urgency.
From familiar tropes to a cinematic triumph
What’s possibly even more important, however, is how it leverages a shared cinematic language—the conventions of action movies, musicals, and good old fashioned melodrama—to create an almost nonstop thrill ride that’s as exciting as it is (frequently) unbelievable. Fans of Hong Kong “heroic bloodshed” movies, and indeed the machinery of 1980s and ‘90s action films of America, will find much to enjoy (and read deeper meaning into) as Bheem and Rama become deeply emotionally invested in their mutual friendship; one could easily see Chow Yun-Fat in vintage The Killer or Hard Boiled mode as Bheem, a principled warrior betrayed by blind affection. Rajamouli’s screenplay creates these muscular, character-defining set pieces that introduce both of them, sets the stage for the sociopolitical and personal challenges they’ll face (both separately and together), and then finds endlessly inventive ways to push the story forward, if not always in an entirely linear fashion.
For example: RRR contains one of the best dance-offs I’ve ever seen on film. Bheem, innocent to the cultural practices of the country’s oppressors, gets a party invite to the governor’s palace from Jenny (Olivia Morris), Buxton’s compassionate niece, after they develop mutual crushes upon one another. When a self-aggrandizing English partygoer bullies Bheem with his mastery of Western dances, Rama intervenes by encouraging his pal with the song “Naatu Naatu” (which he kicks off with a blistering drum solo), and the two of them quickly take over the dancefloor as the rest of the guests try to follow their blinding footwork. Not only does the scene showcase Bheem and Rama’s dedication to one another, but it reinforces the characters’ cultural pride—and underscores the Brits as joyless, narcissistic fuddy-duddies.
Beyond the broader premise of a cop and a criminal developing a friendship or mutual respect for one another (in this case, with knowing who the other is), Rajamouli borrows lots of ideas that audiences have seen before, somehow without making them seem recycled or repetitive. Rama’s back story is suitably complicated—also born in a rural village, but driven to defend his people from within the prevailing power structure instead of outside, as Bheem does—and the film generates a real moral complexity from the idea of sympathizing, at least superficially, with an instrument of the state whose chief goal is to stop the correction of an indisputable injustice.
His arc vaguely resembles Django’s in Tarantino’s Django Unchained, or police cadet Chan Wing-Yan in Infernal Affairs (later brilliantly reimagined by Leonardo DiCaprio in The Departed) as the protector or freedom fighter who must act to deceive—to “intrigue,” as Django said—his oppressors into letting down their guard, and to embrace him as one of their own. The film showcases Rama as an indisputable bad ass—his introductory act is formidable and fearsome—but as more of the plot unspools, audiences begin to understand the moral quandary he faces, the better he does his job.
Using fiction to highlight true heroes
Rajamouli again weaves in some really terrific ideas about the lightning rods that these two men were, and are, for their country and culture—when Rama must reluctantly flog Bheem publicly to cower Delhi’s increasingly restless Indian population, the freedom fighter not only refuses to kneel in defeat, but sings a hymn that rouses the crowd to revolution. And at the same time, he treats them like twin Rambos (especially Rama) capable of enduring unimaginable torture—that is, when they are not dispensing beatings to dozens of opponents at a time. Bheem outwits a wolf and a tiger in his first scene, while Rama battles through a crowd of thousands to capture one rabble-rouser in his; and by the end, they’re pirouetting off of one another’s shoulders, wielding motorcycles like a policeman’s truncheon, and double-fisting machine guns as they defeat wave after wave of British soldiers. (Speaking of which, the film has quite possibly one of the most pro-gun attitudes of any film since the mid-1980s, so mileage may vary on that particular takeaway.)
Nevertheless, Rama Rao Jr. is wonderfully charming as the virtuous, slightly naïve Bheem, fierce and dedicated as a Gond protector navigating his way through a city under foreign, and hostile, control. Charan, meanwhile, is absolutely mesmerizing as Rama, not merely oozing with coiled sexuality (in his police costume, more than vaguely resembling one of the characters drawn by Tom of Finland), but brilliantly navigating the ideological compromises he has made—and continues to make—in order to achieve a singular goal. The action scenes practically leap off of the screen, and even at their most ridiculous (I mentioned that one of them swings a motorcycle, right?), Rajamouli maintains such a steady control of the film’s tone that nothing seems fully ridiculous, at least not within this heightened world.
Of course, American movies frequently abandon the pretense of believability, and audiences just as frequently balk. It’s hard to say exactly why this film works so well while much of Uncharted or Jurassic World: Dominion seems, well, absurd. But there’s something about it, even at its darkest moments, that’s so joyful, so charming, and so determined to keep you engaged that you simply cannot resist. And you won’t want to. What works, and enchants, is not a sense of exoticism, foreignness, or even exaggeration or hyperbole. What’s there isn’t to be enjoyed ironically or as an experience to gawk or giggle at. Rather, its specificity paves the way for a universal story, and universal sentiment. To get into RRR—and get on its wavelength—is less a challenge than a gift to the audience, and a reminder of the power of movies to transport, transform, entertain, and inspire, in any language.
44 Comments
I wonder if the popularity of RRR has lead to an increase in suspender sales.
If you like crowd pleasing thrill rides, I recommend a romantic evening with either member of The SPR3!
It’s “Tollywood,” not Tellywood!
You toll ‘em, aninsomniac!
I’ve seen this and it is indeed awesome, but I’d recommend not reading the review if you’ve just jumped down to see the comments as its very spoilery, and I’m so glad I went in knowing nothing about the film.
Also on the Asian film front, if you’ve not seen Enthiran (and the sequel, 2.0) I’d highly recommend them, they’re extremely mad but very enjoyable action flicks with some incredibly memorable moments in them,
I’m glad Doody is back.
She was cast at Eowyn in Lord of the Rings, but got pregnant and it went to Miranda Otto.
I hope she and Imogen Poots get cast together in a movie one day.
Your comment made me snarf. Now I’m imagining a buddy-cop film: “Doody & Poots: Sanitation Investigation Service”…now we need an actor with the last name Booty, so it can be Booty, Doody, & Poots… Maybe former England national team soccer player Nicky Butt could become an actor?
Dick Butkus is still out there. He could play their irascible grandfather.
A much better review:
really want to see this in a theatre.
I am probably going to watch it on netflix but it would be cool to see on a big screen it sounds like
The most earned title card ever + a dance sequence I have rewatched 6 times (so far) since seeing the movie this week. Yes, recommend.
The Dance Sequence of the year. I want it performed at the Oscars and I want this movie to win Best Foreign Language Film.
double-fisting machine guns
Bolt-action rifles, which are quite different.I saw this over the weekend for Unspooled. It was ok.
Wait, how can even fire two bolt actions simultaneously? Work the bolt with your teeth? Gotta see it just for that.
You can fire them both very easily. The reloading’s the hard part. (And the aiming but come on, it’s a movie, who aims when double fisting guns?)
One guy has injured legs and is on the shoulders of the other guy. So he fires two shots with his rifles, then lowers them so the other guy can work the bolts of each. In other scenes though people fire repeatedly without working a bolt.
dara dam dara dam dara dam dam
That was Alison Doody?? Oh man I didn’t even notice. Watched with my mom and it held her attention the whole time so I call that a win. One gripe of mine is the foley/audio in the film could’ve been a bit more punchy.
Obligatory:THIRTEEEEEEEEEEEEN!!!!
“Rather, its specificity paves the way for a universal story, and universal sentiment.”Well, hyper-nationalism is doing the rounds, globally but I’m not sure it’s something we should want? Don’t get me wrong; I loved this flick’s action setpieces because they are just incredible. But what with the whole Modi situation in India and other countries’ troubles with nationalistic groups, in the end I did feel a bit awkward about it. The same kind of awkwardness I felt at TG: Maverick, only RRR was even more brazen about it (the flag-cloaking scene was just… my god). Fuck the British Empire though lmao make all the Inglorious Bastards-esque revenge porn movies that you want.
Yup, a lot of American readings of the film have kind of glided over this, in an almost patronizing way. The film is the Indian MAGA and for an Indian it reads very differently. For example the flag they use in the beginning to save the kid is very similar the one devised Veer Savarkar, the father of Hindutva ideology in India. The end is literally the figurehead of the RSS, Ram being reborn and guiding the tribesmen to victory.
This is, frankly, a completely ridiculous reading of the movie. For one, the flag shown in the film is historically accurate and while similar, not the one used by Sarvarkar. What’s the film supposed to do with executing that idea? Use something anachronistic?
Second, Hindu nationalism in AP and Telangana takes a completely different form than anything your reading supports. This is classic North Indian flattening of the Southern states’ politcal/cultural/historical nuances.
Third, the movie clearly makes a parallel between Raju and Ram and Bheem and Hanuman. But to say that the final sequence it about Ram somehow leading Bheem’s tribe to victory is a reach if I’ve ever seen one. The plot point is explicitly about Bheem rescuing Raju and then the two of them fucking shit up. I don’t even know how you come up with Raju leading the tribe from that. A reach if I’ve ever seen one.
The movie definitely has some problematic depictions of caste (Bheem’s line about him being a naive tribal made me squirm) and Rajamouli could think about the metaphors he deploys slightly more carefully if he is going to release dubs in the Northern states but to call this movie Indian MAGA when Kashmir File, Akshay Kumar. John Abraham etc. exist is fucking insane. It’s like saying any movie that makes a Christ allusion is pro-life or some such nonsensical reach. At worst, this movie is Top Gun like propaganda.
This is, frankly, a completely ridiculous reading of the movie. For one, the flag shown in the film is historically accurate and while similar, not the one used by Sarvarkar. What’s the film supposed to do with executing that idea? Use something anachronistic?
Second, Hindu nationalism in AP and Telangana takes a completely different form than anything your reading supports. This is classic North Indian flattening of the Southern states’ politcal/cultural/historical nuances.
Third, the movie clearly makes a parallel between Raju and Ram and Bheem and Hanuman. But to say that the final sequence it about Ram somehow leading Bheem’s tribe to victory is a reach if I’ve ever seen one. The plot point is explicitly about Bheem rescuing Raju and then the two of them fucking shit up. I don’t even know how you come up with Raju leading the tribe from that.
The movie definitely has some problematic depictions of caste (Bheem’s line about him being a naive tribal made me squirm) and Rajamouli could think about the metaphors he deploys slightly more carefully if he is going to release dubs in the Northern states but to call this movie Indian MAGA when Kashmir File, Akshay Kumar. John Abraham etc. exist is fucking insane. It’s like saying any movie that makes a Christ allusion is pro-life or some such nonsensical reach. At worst, this movie is Top Gun like propaganda.
The patriotism shown in RRR is the opposite of what Modi preaches. The film presents a united India, especially in terms of religion- the decision to have Bheem be looked after by the Muslim community shows this. Modi and the leading party- the BJP- have been implementing dangerous policies with the intention of targeting Muslims. Meanwhile, RRR promotes national harmony, beyond religion. So, the fact that it is patriotic is not inherently a bad or dangerous thing.
If you look beyond CAA which grants minorities of India’s neighbours citizenship in India, Modi government increased minority benefits to huge extent (statistics is proof).And in Indian history, Muslims have chequered history. And the only Muslim President (APJ Abdul Kalam) elected in India’s history was nominated by Modi’s party. If you look beyond rhetoric of left in US, you can discern truth from falsity.
Hmm, I took Bheem being looked after a Muslim family and him then taking charge together with this superhero buddy more as a “Hinduism is leading us, the rest support it” thing. More friendly than those appalling policies, but not exactly united as equals? I don’t know. I’ll admit that the details are probably going over my head. But honestly, even if it’s a united hypernationalism it’s still, y’know, hypernationalism. That makes me go “yikes” regardless. Nothing good comes of it in the long term, it’s always just “us vs them” crap. I’ll never not cheer at the British Raj getting its ass kicked, but the world is dealing with different things these days.
Bheem is from a tribal community – one that does not comfortably sit within Hindutva’s idea of Hinduism. So, there is some messiness in the identity politics here that does not map on perfectly with extremist Hinduism. However, there is something to be said for visual choices and coding, and how irrespective of intentions, these might be read in ways that promote Hindutva. So the extreme nationalism, the idea that the British worked with Muslim Nawabs (invisibilizing the hundreds of high caste Hindus that collaborated with them), Ram’s saffron clad avatara (which is historically accurate, but also stemmed from a militarization of Ram), and hyper violent resistance as a heroic, aesthetically pleasing, and righteous choice all can be read in ways that support right wing politics. Reminds me of the issues with The Northman tbh.
Not knowing anything about this, I have to say that mustache on Ram would be Ron Swanson approved.
Not knowing what this was, I saw the pic of Indian guys in mountainous terrain, one of them holding a big stick, and I immediately wondered if it was about the Line of Actual Control.
Indian action movies have some really cool scenes, lots of out of the ordinary stuff happening that you are unlikely to see in American movies. Unfortunately they also tend to be horrible for the non-action scenes. I haven’t been able to get through a whole movie yet. I just end up skipping to the action instead.
It’s been fucking Stunning… Thanks for the tip!
Thanks for write up, As a Indian Telugu American I’m really excited my native language is getting finally recognition it has been due for 50+ years, it was always been better and lavish than Bollywood; but with low recognition ; Telugu is spoken in two different neighboring States with different dialects . Alluri seetha Rama Raju is real life Telugu freedom fighter from one Telugu state who fought against British and got killed brutally ; in this movie Ram Charan’s character is him , so in the movie they call him Rama/Ram/Raju. He was bilingual in English and Telugu a very multitalented guy , coming from a very affluent upbringings. British Indian rule was really ruthless, they use to flog and kill mercilessly for petty revolutions , the flogging/killing shown in movie is almost close to fact’s in colonial times. Whereas Bheem is from another Telugu state which is current Hyderabad city and was only state under brutal Muslim mafia kinda rule called Nizam, he is based on real life Telugu revolutionary Tribal leader Komaram Bheem who dies at very young age in real life fighting against Nizam; that’s the reason he was shown in Muslim disguise in Delhi , since there are plenty of Muslim in Delhi cause of Mogul/Arab invasions and in those days only people from Hyderabad are bilingual can communicate in Telugu & Urdu, he would easily infiltrated and gets less suspected in foreign land Delhi and also he can carry huge chunks of meat for wild animals that he captured earlier., since usually Hindu people in Northern India are vegetarians.
In reality both theses revolutionary leaders are less known outside Telugu states, so Rajamouli’ gave a slight touch of Hindu gods Rama and Bheema appearance to them, for Hindu India appeal. Also, in reality both never met but, had a interesting part in their lifetime around 1920, both went missing for few years and when returned home lands, they somehow got trained in armed revolution and Bhim got back educated. So, again director used this period in developing a fictional bond between these two heroes.
Also fyi, Telugu is movie industry based from Hyderabad Southern Indian city,where most of IT people are from in our US. Usually the overseas US market is bigger for Telugu movies than any Indian language , so they easily make around $15M for bigger movies like Rajamouli’s or Sukumar’s. Smaller budget make box office collections around $1M-$3M that is really huge in terms of revenue for US Non Hollywood box office collections , in recent years Telugu overpassed Hindi/Bollywood in terms of popularity, revenue and global reach.
Thanks for this – we British got taught very little about the horrible particulars of the Empire, or those that resisted it, in school (in the eighties when I was there, that is). The curriculum was mostly “ships, trade, trains, masses of territory, Queen Victoria, we ‘granted’ everyone independence out of the kindness of our hearts, ain’t Britain great, now let’s skip to the World Wars”.BTW, Ram’s police badge has him as “Rama Raju”, reinforcing your observation.
Thank you for this information. I just watched the film and thoroughly enjoyed it. This makes it all the more rich for me.
At some point, Western reception of RRR is gonna have to take into account how it uses (and has *certainly* become a massive cultural touchstone for) the tropes of the Indian far-right?I don’t know, I just see article after article earnestly praising its superhero-esque and decolonial qualities… while entirely missing the specific aesthetics, histories, and rallying cries of present-day Hindu far-right nationalism that it’s playing with. Like, there were massive audiences in India yelling quasi-fascistic slogans in its initial screenings, while the production itself has some disconcerting links to Modi’s government!Obviously, you can’t be too harsh on writers simply not being aware of these things. That being said, it’s an uneasy recommendation. RRR is a fun and well-made movie, absolutely, but this bout of cultural ignorance just sits weirdly with me.
Ish. I’m interested in that discussion, but don’t think writers that don’t touch on it are blinkered, or that the filmmakers are all fascist. Only in the same way that American superhero films can be interpreted as fascist fantasy by fascists. Like the idiots who think they’re like the Punisher or Captain America, when they would be the precise folks those two would treat at best as misguided, and at worst as enemies. That doesn’t make these filmmakers irresponsible. Iron Man may have popularized the wealthy cad, and Ike Perlmutter may be a shitheel that eventually funneled money from that film to the 45th President, but that not everyone mentions Tony Stark as a reason Donald Trump came to power in reviews of the films he appears in isn’t because writers aren’t aware of the comparison. It may simply be distracting and immaterial to the discussion they want to have, and certainly not least, rather unfair to the filmmakers.
Those folks were going to be chanting quasi-fascistic chants at something. Anything with a power fantasy is going to appeal to those who have made a hobby of fantasizing about power. That doesn’t make those power fantasies inherently bad: we all yearn for heroes, and we all yearn to be heroes ourselves, and catharsis for that yearning isn’t something only jerks desire.
We shouldn’t let bad people ruin good things simply because they had good taste for the wrong reasons, hehe.
I do get where you’re coming from, and we’re probably thinking about this along the same lines.That being said, I think there still has to be at least an *awareness* of the contexts in which these movies come about? Like, of course you wouldn’t really tie Iron Man into Trump, but it would be easier to do so in 2014 with, say American Sniper. Certainly, the discourse reflected that at the time.I think the present-day tropes it’s playing with are sort of unignorable! Critics of course don’t have to engage with it – I agree with you there, critical cultural analysis isn’t their main thing – but… I guess it’d just be nice to see some awareness in the mounting coverage.I don’t really know! This contextual aporia still feels odd, but I admit you’re right when you say that it’s certainly not *necessary* to discussing the film.
There’s no political party in India that’s not nationalistic. If you consider nationalism as far-right, it’ll lead you nowhere. Drawing comparisons of political systems that are different to US is wrong. There’s no economic right in India simply because it wouldn’t win. There’s cultural right and moderate right simply because India’s a conservative country (in culture).
I’m not sure where I used nationalism as a generic or universal term? I referred to Hindu nationalism, which is a regionally specific phenomenon, with demonstrable lines of political division in India. I’m also not from the US, so don’t know where you’re getting that from either!
*Don’t know how to do spoiler tags*Hey Obi-Wan – This is how you depict a ‘Reva’
Kinda disappointed that Netflix only offers it in English or Hindi and not Telugu.