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मूवी रिव्यू

मूवी रिव्‍यू: आरआरआर (RRR)

क्रिटिक रेटिंग, पाठकों की रेटिंग, अपनी रेटिंग दें.

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अगला रिव्यू

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The Telugu language Indian action epic “RRR” (short for “Rise Roar Revolt”) has returned to US theaters for an exceptional one-night-only engagement on June 1st following its initial theatrical release. Some hindsight has made it easy to guess why writer/director S.S. Rajamouli has only now broken through to Western audiences with “RRR” despite his consistent box office success. Rajamouli’s latest is an anti-colonial fable and buddy drama about the imaginary combo of two real-life freedom fighters, Komaram Bheem (N.T. Rama Rao Jr.) and Alluri Sitarama Raju ( Ram Charan ). “RRR” is also a fine showcase for Rajamouli’s characteristic focus on maximalist action choreography, overwhelming stuntwork and pyrotechnics, and sophisticated computer graphics.  

By the time he made “RRR,” Rajamouli had already developed his brand of Nationalistic self-mythologizing with some help from recurring collaborators like regular story writer (and biological father) Vijayendra Prasad and both co-leads, who previously starred in Rajamouli’s “Yamadonga” and “Magadheera,” respectively.

Set in and around Delhi in 1920, “RRR” pointedly lacks historical context so that Rajamouli and his team can transform a straight-forward rescue mission into a rallying cry for reunification and also cathartic violence. Bheem, the avenging “shepherd” of the Adivasian Gond tribe, visits Delhi to track down Malli ( Twinkle Sharma ), an innocent pre-teen who’s kidnapped from her Gondian mother by the cartoonishly evil British Governor Scott ( Ray Stevenson ) and his sadistic wife Cathy ( Alison Doody ).

Raju, a peerless Colonial police officer, befriends Bheem without realizing that they’re at cross purposes: Bheem wants to break into Scott’s fortress-like quarters to rescue Maali while Raju wants to catch the unknown “tribal” that Scott’s lackey Edward ( Edward Sonnenblick ) fears might be lurking about. Raju and Bheem immediately bond after they save an unrelated child from being crushed by a runaway train, as clear a sign as any of Rajamouli’s love for Cecil B. DeMille-style melodrama. (“Ben Hur” is an acknowledged influence for Rajamouli, as are the action/period dramas of fellow DeMille-ian Mel Gibson ).

It’s also fitting that “RRR” is Rajamouli’s big breakthrough since it's inevitably about Bheem as an inspiring symbol of quasi-traditional, boundary-trampling patriotism. Rajamouli has gotten quite good at incorporating potentially alienating elements, like his cheap-seats love of grisly violence and brash sloganeering, into his propulsive, inventive, and visually assured fight scenes and dance numbers.

Rajamouli has also already perfected the way he works with and uses his actors as part of his shock-and-awe style of melodrama. Rama Rao is ideally cast as the naively sweet-natured Bheem, whose messianic qualities are also effectively high-lit in a handful of rousing set pieces, like when a bare-chested Bheem wrestles a tiger into submission. Rama Rao’s performance isn’t the main thing, but it is the emblematic inspiration that, along with a “Passion of the Christ”-worthy scourging, understandably leads an assembly of Indian nationals to attack Scott and his bloodthirsty hambone wife in a later scene.

Likewise, Charan’s steely-eyed performance in “RRR” is limited, but strong enough to be credibly superhuman. Rajamouli knows exactly how to capture his best sides, as in an astounding opening action scene where Raju descends into a rioting mob just to subdue and apprehend one particular dissident. Rao and Charan’s bro-mantic chemistry and syncopated physicality have already made a viral success of the movie’s splashy “Naatu Naatu” musical number, but that scene’s infectiously joyful presentation is supra-human by design.

The spirit of the individual matters more than any single person in Rajamouli’s movies and “RRR” is a perfect expression of that notion. It’s also a decent reflection of Rajamouli’s fame, which Film Companion South ’s Sagar Tetali keenly suggests is “the triumph of directorial ambition over the actor-star—the triumph of a brand of storytelling over the South Indian star image.”

With “RRR,” Rajamouli repeats his preference for one nation under populist ubermenschen. Both Bheem and Raju are extraordinary men because they are, at heart, aspirational expressions of the people’s will. Their lives, their loved ones, and their relationships are all of secondary importance—check out Bollywood star Ajay Devgn ’s explosive cameo!—so it makes sense that the cast’s images and performances are also blown up to James Cameron-sized proportions.

Like Cameron, Rajamouli has earned a reputation for pushing the limits of industrialized pop cinema. In that sense, “RRR” feels simultaneously personal and gargantuan in scope. Film Comment ’s R. Emmet Sweeney is right to caution viewers regarding the towering streak of “Hindu-centric” Nationalism and characterizations at the heart of Rajamouli’s “Pan-Indian address.” Sweeney is also right to hail Rajamouli’s dazzling “technical innovation.” It’s not every day that a new Indian movie—which are typically not advertised to Western viewers beyond indigenous language speakers, and therefore largely ignored by Western outlets—is presented as an event to American theatergoers. Attend or miss out.

Available in theaters tonight, June 1st, and also streaming on Netflix.

Simon Abrams

Simon Abrams is a native New Yorker and freelance film critic whose work has been featured in  The New York Times ,  Vanity Fair ,  The Village Voice,  and elsewhere.

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Film credits.

187 minutes

N.T. Rama Rao Jr. as Komaram Bheem

Ram Charan as Alluri Sitarama Raju

Alia Bhatt as Sita

Ajay Devgn as Venkata Rama Raju

Ray Stevenson as Scott Buxton

Alison Doody as Cassandra Buxton

Olivia Morris as Jennifer 'Jenny' Buxton

Samuthirakani as Venkateshwarulu

Shriya Saran as Sarojini

Chatrapathi Sekhar as Jangu

Makrand Deshpande as Peddanna

• S. S. Rajamouli

Writer (story)

• Vijayendra Prasad
• S.S. Rajamouli

Cinematographer

• K.K. Senthil Kumar
• Sreekar Prasad
• M.M. Keeravaani

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Where to Watch

Watch RRR with a subscription on Netflix.

What to Know

Intoxicatingly over the top, RRR pulls out all the stops to make the absolute most of its 187-minute runtime.

Top-notch singing and dancing combine with a terrific story to make RRR a three-hour feast of entertainment.

Critics Reviews

Audience reviews, cast & crew.

S.S. Rajamouli

N.T. Rama Rao Jr.

Komaram Bheem

Alluri Sitarama Raju

Ajay Devgan

Venkata Rama Raju

Shriya Saran

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RRR Movie Review: A film that’s meant for the big screen RRR is a teRRRific entertainer.

Rrr is a terrrific entertainer, rrr review {4.0/5} & review rating.

Everyone’s discussing RRR for a solid reason: SS Rajamouli. He pioneered the trend of PAN-India films with BAAHUBALI and BAAHUBALI 2. The second part — the facts are known to all and sundry — holds the enviable record of being the highest grossing *Hindi* film.

Naturally, the expectations from RRR — his third PAN-India film in a row — are massive. Also because it marks the Hindi debut of Jr NTR and it happens to be the second Hindi outing of Ram Charan . Two hugely popular actors of the Telugu film industry.

Both, Jr NTR and Ram Charan reunite with Rajamouli after a gap. For the uninitiated, RRR is Jr NTR’s fourth film with the master storyteller, while Charan reunites with Rajamouli after the mega-success of MAGADHEERA.

There’s a lot at stake this time. BAAHUBALI [2015] arrived with zilch expectations at that point of time. RRR is carrying the baggage of expectations and also has to deliver the numbers, after the historic success of BAAHUBALI 2 [2017]. The important question is, does RRR live up to the lofty expectations?

Like BAAHUBALI [both parts], Rajamouli goes back in time with RRR. The difference is, it’s about two revolutionaries this time. Also, RRR is set in the pre-independence era [1920].

Now let’s come to the point…

RRR is a solid entertainer that doesn’t make you restless, despite a marathon run time. The screenplay is wonderfully constructed, the twists and turns are attention grabbing and the nail-biting episodes as well as superbly executed action pieces keep you mesmerised till the final credits roll. The best part is, you don’t know the plot [Rajamouli hasn’t revealed much either, pre-release], so what unfolds on screen catches you by complete surprise.

The plot, without revealing spoilers. The year is 1920. The British are ruling India. The wife [Alison Doody] of a British officer Scott Buxton [Ray Stevenson] gets impressed by a tribal girl, Malli. She forcibly takes the girl away to Delhi, much to the shock of her parents and the rest of the tribe.

Komaram Bheem [Jr NTR] — who belongs to the tribe — promises to bring back Malli. When the British learn about Bheem and his mission, they decide to trace him at any cost. However, no one knows what Bheem looks like. A police officer, Alluri Sitarama Raju [Ram Charan], takes up the challenge.

Rajamouli’s films are desi at heart and soaked in entertainment. RRR is no different. He knows what his audience expects from him, which explains why every sequence is loaded with entertainment. Wait, Rajamouli also knows well that mass moments minus emotions will backfire, which is why there’s a strong undercurrent of emotions in his films. RRR has it as well.

Rajamouli has a fantastic sense of narrating an epic tale, which is evident when you look at the visuals. The introduction of Ram Charan first and Jr NTR later leave you stunned thanks to the sheer magnificence.

RRR Hungama: Jr. NTR, S.S. Rajamouli & Ram Charan’s most entertaining interview | Alia Bhatt | Ajay Devgn

RRR contains enough worthy material to hold the moviegoer’s attention for most of its run time. The emotional component is well balanced with subtle humour, drama, action pieces and of course, some stunning visuals that leave you awe-struck.

Any hiccups? Yes, the pace slackens in the second act, after intermission. Besides, a few sequences in this hour aren’t too convincing. Sure, it’s an entertainer and one shouldn’t look for logic, but, a few portions lack the impact. Also, Alia Bhatt’s character could’ve done with better writing.

RRR rests on Jr NTR and Ram Charan’s brawny shoulders. Jr NTR is exceptional, pitches a sterling act that doesn’t miss a beat. He gives RRR the much-needed power. Ram Charan is fantastic. Electrifying in dramatic and action moments. Winsome act adds weightage. Also, you are left awestruck by Jr NTR and Ram Charan’s dancing skills in ‘Naacho Naacho’. The choreography of this song deserves distinction marks.

Also, the two actors have dubbed their lines in Hindi themselves and the diction as well as the flow of words are perfect.

Alia Bhatt doesn’t get much scope, while Ajay Devgn appears in a well-written cameo. Ray Stevenson [Scott] and Alison Doody [Lady Scott] are effective as the antagonists. Olivia Morris gets limited scope. Shriya Saran is okay in a cameo.

The soundtrack has a smash hit number in ‘Naacho Naacho’, while ‘Sholay’ [end credits] is an apt track to conclude the film. KK Senthil Kumar's cinematography is spectacular and does complete justice to the scale of the film. Sabu Cyril's production design is superb. Rama Rajamouli's costumes are well researched and the detailing catches your eye. VFX [V Srinivas Mohan] matches global standards. Action sequences are one of the strengths of the film.

On the whole, RRR is a teRRRific entertainer that’s meant for the big screen. The film has the merits to emerge a massive hit. Don’t miss it!

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RRR Movie Review: एस एस राजामौली के नाम से ‘आरआरआर’ का बेड़ा पार, पढ़िए कहां अटकी और कहां भटकी ‘रौद्रम् रणम् रुधिरम्’

करीब साढ़े पांच सौ करोड़ रुपये में बनी निर्देशक एस एस राजामौली की फिल्म ‘आरआरआर’ की प्रतियोगिता उनकी अपनी ही फिल्मों ‘बाहुबली’ और ‘बाहुबली 2’ से है। भारतीय सिनेमा का दुनिया में मजबूत स्थान बनाने वाले राजामौली की इस फिल्म का परिणाम देश में मनोरंजन उद्योग की अगली दिशा भी तय करेगा।

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निर्देशक एस एस राजामौली के 21 साल के करियर की ‘आरआरआर’ 12वीं फिल्म है। राजामौली की अब तक की सारी फिल्में कामयाब रही हैं जो फिल्मे हिट नहीं भी रहीं, उन्होंने भी बॉक्स ऑफिस पर अपने निर्माता का पैसा डुबोया नहीं। उनकी पिछली दो फिल्में ‘बाहुबली’ और ‘बाहुबली 2’ विश्व सिनेमा के परिदृश्य पर भारतीय सिनेमा की सबसे बड़ी धमक रही हैं। इन फिल्मों की कामयाबी ने दिखाया कि सितारे नहीं बल्कि अब फिल्मों की कहानियों, इनके फिल्मांकन और इनकी तकनीकी सुरुचि और समृद्धि ही बॉक्स ऑफिस पर कमाल करेगी। और, फिर ‘द कश्मीर फाइल्स’ आ गई जिसने इन सारे मिथकों को मिटाकर ब्लैक बोर्ड पर बॉक्स ऑफिस के आंकड़े नए सिरे से लिखने शुरू कर दिए। सिनेमा और सियासत के ये दो अलग अलग चेहरे हैं। अब बारी उस फिल्म की है जिसमें इन दोनों का समावेश है। अंग्रेजों के खिलाफ छिड़ी जंग में दक्षिण को दो रण बांकुरों की कहानी है, ‘रौद्रम रणम रुधिरम’ यानी फिल्म ‘आरआरआर’।

एड फ्री अनुभव के लिए अमर उजाला प्रीमियम सब्सक्राइब करें

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फॉन्ट साइज चुनने की सुविधा केवल एप पर उपलब्ध है

अमर उजाला एप इंस्टॉल कर रजिस्टर करें और 100 कॉइन्स पाएं, केवल नए रजिस्ट्रेशन पर, अब मिलेगी लेटेस्ट, ट्रेंडिंग और ब्रेकिंग न्यूज आपके व्हाट्सएप पर.

सभी नौकरियों के बारे में जानने के लिए अभी डाउनलोड करें अमर उजाला ऐप

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India’s wild action movie RRR re-imagines real-life revolt as an epic superhero battle

The latest outsized crowd-pleaser from Baahubali series director S.S. Rajamouli finds massive thrills in revolution

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In the famous “No Man’s Land” sequence from 2017’s Wonder Woman , Gal Gadot strides across a barren battlefield in slow motion, deflecting German bullets with her wrist cuffs and magical shield. The wind blows through her hair as she leaps across the muddy fields with godlike nimbleness, the score swelling behind her with patriotic pride. There’s a similar moment in RRR (“Rise Roar Revolt”), S.S. Rajamouli’s action-drama hybrid about the adventures of two Indian revolutionaries who have divergent approaches to resisting British occupation in 1920s Delhi. The difference is, in RRR , it’s just one of half a dozen scenes of its kind.

The latest outsized action spectacle from Rajamouli — director of the much-beloved Baahubali movies , available on Netflix — mythologizes two historical figures, Komaram Bheem (N.T. Rama Rao Jr.) and Alluri Sitarama Raju (Konidela Ram Charan). In real life, Bheem was a leader of the Gondi people who collaborated with other groups to resist landlords and mining companies encroaching onto tribal lands. Raju, meanwhile, led guerrilla attacks on imperial police stations, seizing British guns and ammunition to level the playing field between colonizer and colonized.

This last point makes its way into RRR , as part of a storyline that reframes Raju as a supercop on a mission to take down the British power structure from within. That’s a minor liberty, however, compared to the fact that in the film, both Raju and Bheem have superheroic agility, strength, and fighting abilities. Both can scale buildings like Spider-Man, dodge bullets like Wonder Woman, and flip their opponents like pro wrestlers. Bheem, representing the element of water, counts the animals of the forest among his allies, and bursts onto the field of battle with tigers and wolves by his side. And Raju, representing fire, drives a burning carriage and shoots flaming arrows. Picture Benjamin Franklin and Paul Revere joining the MCU, with Franklin harnessing the power of electricity, and Revere the swiftness of the wind.

The superpowers aren’t the only liberty taken with their stories. RRR explains gaps in both men’s histories by proposing that they became friends after they each made their way to Delhi in the early 1920s — Raju as an undercover imperial cop, Bheem on a rescue mission to save a village girl kidnapped by a colonial governor. (They never met in real life.) In the film, the pair bond over their mutual derring-do. They’re two strangers who agree with a nod to embark on a dangerous impromptu rescue mission to save a little boy trapped by a flaming train accident on a Delhi river.

Subtlety, to put it mildly, is not Rajamouli’s thing. And so the director not only takes every opportunity available to hammer home the “fire and water” theme, he also works in dramatic slow-motion shots wherever he can. Bheem trips and knocks a silver tray out of a waiter’s hand at a garden party? The tray drops in slow motion and spins to a stop as guests stare with wide eyes and jaws agape. Raju pummels a punching bag in frustration after being passed over for a promotion? You bet those drops of sweat are beading off of his glistening, muscular shoulders and dashing mustache at half-speed.

RRR also deals in big emotions to match its hyper-dramatic shooting style. Betrayal, loyalty, and legacy are all major themes, and an alternate title of the film could be SSS — “Secrets. Subterfuge. Sacrifice.” Compared to a stereotypical Bollywood film (which RRR is not — it’s a Telugu production), RRR is relatively light on music and romance, devoting much of its screen time to visual spectacle, gonzo action, and patriotic zeal. The dynamic between Bheem and Raju has shades of the macho bromance of John Woo’s 1980s movies, until it transforms into a superhero team-up. And Rajamouli’s camera is unabashed in its worship of these men, introducing them with protracted sequences designed to build anticipation for viewers’ first look at the characters.

But RRR does make some time for comedy and music amid its stylized feats of mythological bravery. Between the title card — which pops up around the 45-minute mark — and the intermission (sorry, “InteRRRmission”) break two hours in, RRR pauses for a breezy interlude that invites viewers to hang out with the provincial Bheem and the more Anglicized Raju as they get into mischief and chase girls. Raju has a sweetheart back home — his childhood friend Sita (Alia Bhatt), to whom he pledged eternal loyalty before leaving his village to join the Indian Imperial Police. So he acts as Bheem’s wingman, helping Bheem charm sympathetic Englishwoman Jenny (Olivia Morris) with his aw-shucks attitude and impressive dance skills.

Jr NTR (the common abbreviation for N.T. Rama Rao Jr.) and Ram Charan, both Telugu superstars in their own right, show off those skills in the rousing “ Naatu Naatu, ” RRR ’s only real musical production number. (Another song, “Etthara Jenda,” plays over the end credits, and Bheem puts his defiance into song while being punished for his revolutionary activities.) Longtime Rajamouli collaborator M.M. Keeravani provides music for these numbers, along with a title song and instrumental compositions designed to get audiences to their feet.

RRR is a busy movie, full of kinetic camerawork, bustling crowd scenes, elaborate set design, expensive-looking CGI, and loud sound effects. Rajamouli is skilled at balancing the film’s many elements, so “overstimulated” isn’t quite the word for how walking out o f RRR feels. It’s more like the pleasant exhaustion after a good workout.

The extended running times of Indian films used to form a barrier to entry for Western audiences unaccustomed to spending three full hours at the movies. But times have changed, and RRR is only 10 minutes longer than The Batman . On the other hand, although it’s set for release in 30 countries , the film assumes a familiarity with certain characters and iconographies that might go over foreign viewers’ heads. Still, at its core, this is a story about people fighting for their beliefs against impossible odds. It’s about perseverance and the power of working together toward a common goal. Those themes are universally relatable — as is the giddy thrill of watching racist forces of imperial oppression get exactly what’s coming to them.

RRR is now playing in select theaters worldwide.

[ Ed. note: We recommend viewers check local listings or contact the theater to make sure you’re catching the version of RRR you want to see. The film was shot in Telugu, but some theaters are running multiple screens with versions of the film dubbed into one or more of the other major Indian languages: Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam. A Telugu screening will give you the original voice performances with English subtitles.]

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If you haven't been back to the movies yet, Indian epic 'RRR' is the reason to go

John Powers

Ram Charan stars in RRR, an action-packed bromance set in India in the 1920s. Raftar Creations hide caption

Ram Charan stars in RRR, an action-packed bromance set in India in the 1920s.

If you're over the age of, say, 40, you will surely remember the 1975 cult phenomenon The Rocky Horror Picture Show . Weekend after weekend, year after year, decade after decade, audiences turned up at theaters — often dressed in corsets, fishnets and other costumes — to shriek out lines ahead of the characters and sing along with the songs.

I've never seen anything like it — until now. A few nights ago, I went to a packed screening of RRR , an epic action-picture bromance from India. The screening had 900 people — some of whom had already seen the film 10 times — clapping and dancing from the opening credits.

Made by box-office titan S.S. Rajamouli, RRR induces such unabashed giddiness in its audience that Hollywood is witnessing a push to get it nominated for the Oscars. Forget Best International Feature Film, folks are talking Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor. And having seen RRR twice myself, I'm part of the bandwagon.

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'rrr' is an interrrnational phenomenon.

Set during the British Raj in the 1920s, the movie tells the story of two heroes with impressive physiques and super-charged abilities. The tightly wound Ram — played by Ram Charan — works for the British as a crack military officer who we see quash a mass Indian uprising single-handed. His tiger-hunting counterpart, Bheem, played by N.T. Rama Rao, Jr., is a tribal villager who has come in disguise to Delhi to reclaim a young girl from his village who has been capriciously snatched by the evil wife of the evil British governor.

Ram and Bheem meet heroically while working in tandem to save a child from a train crashing into a river. Kindred in their bravery, they instantly become fast friends. But they don't know one important thing. While Bheem secretly opposes the governor, Ram is secretly working for him. They're bound for a head-on collision.

RRR — the title stands for Rise Roar Revolt — is populist filmmaking. Its emotions are simple, its anti-colonial politics broad. Rajamouli makes the British rulers of India even worse than they actually were, and they were mighty bad. But his mega-star lead actors play their roles with such ardent conviction that we don't merely believe in Ram and Bheem's friendship, we're moved by it. Rajamouli unfolds the many twists and turns of their story with such confidently rampaging energy that, by comparison, most Hollywood blockbusters feel anemic.

I'm normally bored by action sequences, but from the opening riot to the assault on the governor's mansion to the big prison escape — during which Ram rides atop Bheem's shoulders with guns ablazing — RRR contains more exciting action scenes than all the Marvel movies put together. Indeed, there's a slow-motion shot right before the intermission that is one of the most jaw dropping moments in the history of cinema. Just as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Matrix offered American viewers a new vision of action, so RRR possesses a delirious inventiveness and originality that audiences will love. And I haven't even mentioned the marvelous "Naatu Naatu" song-and-dance sequence that recalls the dance-off between the Jets and the Sharks in West Side Story , but is vastly more alive.

You can currently see RRR on Netflix, and it's a good enough movie that you'll enjoy it. But if you can — and I'd urge local theaters to bring it back — you should see it on a big screen. For two reasons. First, Rajamouli is in love with the sheer bigness that makes movies so much grander than TV. Bursting with fights, rescues, wild animals, surging crowds, sadistic monsters, larger-than-life showdowns and mythic transformations, RRR is not a movie that leaves you asking for more.

Indeed, in these days when the box-office is way down, movie chains are wobbling, and experts wonder whether the movies will even survive, RRR makes the case for returning to theaters. It reminds us that movies are always more thrilling when they're part of a collective experience, when you can share the excitement with the people around you. That excitement is electric when you watch RRR . You may well leave the theater humming the catchy tune, "Naatu Naatu."

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‘RRR’ Review: Jr NTR & Ram Charan In S.S. Rajamouli’s Latest Epic

By Stephanie Bunbury

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“Bigger than Ben-Hur .” Never again will I bandy around this expression to describe mere weddings, parties or anything else. S.S. Rajamouli ’s epic RRR ( Rise! Roar! Revolt! ), which tells the story of friends who discover they are on opposite sides of India’s struggle for independence, is so massively bigger than Ben-Hur that I’ve almost forgotten that legendary chariot race.

Who needs chariots when you have an army of tigers, jackals and monster stags at your disposal? When one small boy with a lock-and-load rifle can take out an entire British company of colonial lackeys? When two warriors, one unable to walk and riding on the other’s shoulders, become an invincible fighting machine? It simply can’t get any bigger! And look: here comes a chariot, inevitably loaded with tigers!

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Rajamouli’s success with his previous Baahubali series and RRR ’s starry cast – led by Ram Charan and Jr NTR (aka N. T. Rama Rao Jr ), with megastars Ajay Devgn and Alia Bhatt in supporting roles — meant that the Indian audience was expecting great things this time round. Nobody will be disappointed.

From the first scene, when we see a young “tribal” girl stolen from her mother to become the British governor’s wife’s plaything, we are in a heady world of good versus evil. In the next scene we see Alluri Sitirama Raju (Charan), an officer in the British army, tear through a surging crowd of seemingly tens of thousands to bring down one miscreant. Time and again, he is pulled down, beaten and rises to return to the chase. As the crowd disperses, beaten and dispirited, the one British officer with a lick of sense tells his nervous subordinate that while the angry masses were unnerving, he was much more scared of their own native recruit. Quite right, old chap. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

After that, RRR is one action crescendo after another, never dull but not exhausting either; there are plenty of scenes of Raju’s burgeoning bromance with Komaram Bheem (NTR), a similarly invincible knight come from the forest to find the missing girl, to give cheerful respite. Mostly, however, it’s all about cracking heads and derring-do.

RRR wastes no time on nuance; it doesn’t give a second’s credence to the lingering British belief that theirs was a benevolent kind of colonialism. Governor Scott is an ogre who tells his men not to waste good British bullets on these brown scum when they can easily beat their brains out; his bloodthirsty wife looks capable of poisoning 10 Snow Whites before breakfast. The officers are vain wimps; the men brutes. As for the railways, Britain’s much-vaunted legacy to Empire, the only train in RRR , catches fire on a bridge and collapses into the river that is the people’s livelihood. Nice one, Britain.

That said, there is an interesting undercurrent of intersectionality at the Governor’s garden party (shot in Ukraine, incidentally) where all the ladies are very taken with our heroes and want to give their kind of dancing a go, much to the chagrin of their men. There is even a flicker of romance between Bheem and the Governor’s niece, who lends the revolutionaries a crucial hand when needed. This scene lasts no more than a few seconds, however; RRR is very much about men. That’s an opportunity missed. Even Alia Bhatt, as Raju’s stalwart fiancée Seetha, is barely there.

A serious question emerges, however, between the thrills, whippings, beatings and the happy scenes of boyish togetherness that punctuate them. It is the old chestnut of means and ends. How many innocent people constitute legitimate collateral damage in the fight for freedom? Would you kill your best friend? Should you be capable of that? Maybe if soldiers killed both your parents in front of you when you were a child, you would be — but is that a righteous fury or just another wound? It is a question both heroes must ask themselves, both in the course of battle and its aftermath.

In real life, neither of these revolutionary heroes would live to see their battle won. There is, however, a harbinger of a better future. In the last speaking scene — there is another song and dance to come, of course, in which Bhatt finally joins the boys for some Busby Berkley-style kaleidoscopic swirling — the forest-dweller Bheem announces his new goal: to learn to read and write. Bheem did, in fact, learn to read and write in English, Urdu and Hindi, but RRR makes no claim to documentary truth. The myth is what matters, right down to Raju’s ultimate transformation into Lord Rama, shooting down the enemy with his divinely unerring bow and arrow. But do you want the truth, or something beautiful? RRR ’s vision is a far cry from the bitter realities of Narendra Modi’s India, but it makes a truly great story.

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‘rrr’ review: s.s. rajamouli’s glorious indian action spectacle.

This Telugu-language action-adventure epic, available on Netflix, has become a worldwide sensation.

By Frank Scheck

Frank Scheck

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“Delirious” is the word to describe S.S. Rajamouli’s Indian action-adventure film that has become a worldwide phenomenon both in theaters and on Netflix since its summer release.

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Although the central characters are based on real-life historical figures, RRR (the title stands for “Rise, Roar, Revolt”) is strictly fictional, as one of the most extensive opening disclaimers ever seen onscreen takes pain to emphasize. (We’re also assured that all of the animals seen in the film, and there are plenty, are strictly CGI. Which is definitely a good thing for them.)

We’re introduced to the lead characters in two bravura action sequences before the opening credits, which don’t appear until some 40 minutes into the film. Ramo Rao Jr. plays Bheem, a burly member of the Gond tribe who attempts to trap a wolf only to come into hand-to-paw combat with a rampaging tiger, whom he manages to subdue through a combination of cunning and superhuman strength. Charan plays Raju, a seemingly superhuman Indian member of the British police who, when first seen, dives into a raging mob of what seems like thousands of rioting Indians to subdue a criminal and somehow manages to fight all of them off successfully.

When a little girl from his tribe is abducted by an evil British governor (Ray Stevenson, leaning heavily into his cartoonish role) who regards Indians as “brown rubbish,” and his equally wicked wife (Alison Doody, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ), Bheem embarks for Delhi on a rescue mission. There he encounters Raju in an action-movie version of a “meet cute,” the pair making their acquaintance via a daring joint rescue of a boy from a burning river in a sequence that rivals anything James Cameron or Steven Spielberg has ever devised.

And, of course, there are musical numbers, including the instant classic “Naatu Naatu,” in which Raju and Bheem engage in a frenetically athletic dance-off with rhythm-challenged Brits that would have made MGM’s Arthur Freed proud. (I watched the film on Netflix, and can only imagine the hysteria the scene must have induced in theaters.)

Director Rajamouli, who in just seven years is already responsible for three of India’s highest-grossing films of all time, displays his obvious love of popular cinema in every wildly colorful, overstuffed frame. No matter that the CGI or aerial wire work is sometimes all too obvious, or that the frequent use of slow-motion borders on parody. It’s all presented in such visually dazzling fashion that your eyes are fully satisfied before your brain can make any objections.

And the two endlessly charismatic lead actors display such dynamic physicality in their hyper-muscular performances that they fairly burst from the screen. Their characters provide the most evocative screen bromance since Butch and Sundance.  

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How the Indian Action Spectacular ‘RRR’ Became a Smash in America

The unusual decision to rerelease the film a few weeks after its initial run has drawn enthusiastic audiences even though it’s available on Netflix.

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By Simon Abrams

The Telugu-language Indian action spectacular “RRR,” or “Rise, Roar, Revolt,” was already a worldwide box office winner when it was released in March, grossing $65 million during its opening weekend. But it took an unusual second release for the period epic from the director S.S. Rajamouli to become a word-of-mouth smash across the United States. Now in its 10th week, it’s the rare Indian hit to catch on with American viewers outside the Indian diaspora, thanks to the unusual decision to relaunch the film weeks after it had already played across the country on 1,200 screens.

Set in Delhi during the early 1920s, “RRR” follows two patriotic but philosophically opposed men (Ram Charan and N.T. Rama Rao Jr.) as they first clash with each other, then team up to rescue a kidnapped girl (Twinkle Sharma) from a pair of sadistic British colonial officials (Alison Doody and Ray Stevenson).

A Hindi-language version made for the Bollywood market has been available to Netflix subscribers since May and was among the service’s Top 10 most watched titles in America for nine consecutive weeks. But even with simultaneous streaming, the movie has now grossed $14 million at the American box office and played in 175 additional theaters across 34 states. By contrast, the Telugu-language crime drama “Pushpa: The Rise — Part 1,” the highest-earning Indian movie of last year, made only $1.32 million during its American release.

The president of the distributor Variance Films, Dylan Marchetti, estimates that most of the “RRR” ticket buyers had never before seen a production from Tollywood, the film industry that caters to audiences in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where Telugu is the main language.

The story of how “RRR” broke through in the U.S. involves a rare relaunch — sold to moviegoers as an “encoRRRe” — by Variance in conjunction with an independent consultant, Josh Hurtado, and Sarigama Cinemas, the movie’s original distributor.

Marchetti, who had previously booked contemporary Indian movies at the now-closed ImaginAsian theater in Manhattan, saw the film’s potential crossover appeal after repeatedly watching it with enthusiastic audiences in March. Hurtado, the main consultant at the independently run Potentate Films, also felt the movie had universal appeal. He had previously helped international film festivals program the South Indian hitmaker Rajamouli’s surreal 2012 action fantasy “Eega” (Telugu for “The Fly”). Together, the two contacted Sarigama Cinemas to collaborate on a one-night-only theatrical revival of “RRR.”

They hoped that the event would create what Marchetti called “new evangelists” who could widen the movie’s reach from a few hundred fans to tens of thousands across the country, with some help from social media and the hashtag #encoRRRe. The ticket sales for those June 1 screenings were so impressive that Marchetti and Hurtado soon expanded their encoRRRe plans.

The response was never a given. Most new Indian movies are not marketed to American viewers beyond those who speak the film’s language, and most such films are already screened at national chains like AMC and Cinemark. Many American programmers and exhibitors also still face significant financial pressure created by the pandemic. “Independent theaters are hurting right now,” Marchetti said, “some very badly.”

After some negotiations with Sarigama Cinemas, Hurtado and Marchetti spent a hectic month planning the rerelease. Some American programmers and exhibitors were sold on “RRR” just because of Hurtado and Marchetti’s pitch. Beth Barrett, for instance, screened the movie on June 1 at the Seattle International Film Festival Cinema Uptown .

“SIFF is known for always being up to try something new,” Barrett said. “And our audience is always up for an event screening, so we booked the screening based on Dylan’s enthusiasm and the trailer he sent over, plus his decades of amazingly eclectic audience-friendly taste.”

Gregory Laemmle, the president of the West Coast theater chain that bears his name, attended the Seattle screening after booking “RRR” at three of the Laemmle Theaters’ California locations. (“RRR” has since gone on to play at five Laemmle theaters.) Laemmle was already a believer, sight unseen, thanks partly to Marchetti’s recommendation and partly to enthusiastic social media responses from the initial release. Ticket sales at Laemmle theaters were high enough to warrant a weeklong engagement, which began June 3. “But after seeing the movie, I knew that I would need to clear space for that run to play” longer, Laemmle said.

Cristina Cacioppo programmed “RRR” at the Nitehawk Prospect Park in Brooklyn, where it drew enthusiastic moviegoers in the 20-to-30 age range, most from outside the Indian diaspora. “There was an overall wave of joy throughout,” Cacioppo said by email, adding later. “You could feel the room smiling, the jaws dropping.”

Jake Isgar at the Alamo Drafthouse chain said there were at least 10 rounds of spontaneous applause from a packed screening in San Francisco. “This movie is great on whatever-sized screen you watch, but it’s next-level in a full theater with a rabid audience,” he added.

Hurtado said that many encoRRRe attendees praise the film for the same reasons that had previously dissuaded them from watching new Indian movies: “long run times, song and dance numbers, and ridiculous action” he said. “People come out saying they wish that this three-hour movie were longer.”

Marchetti has also found that “RRR” has become a “gateway drug” for new Indian movie fans. Some film programmers, like Isgar, have been so inspired by the audience response that they’ve booked a few future screenings of new Indian movies, like the Hindi-language superhero fantasy “ Brahmastra Part One: Shiva ” as well as repertory titles like Rajamouli’s “Eega.”

Indian moviegoers already know about Rajamouli’s knack for maximalist action and imaginative set pieces, many of which are built around dynamic special effects and choreography. The musical number “Naatu Naatu” (Telugu for “Native Native”) from “RRR” has also become a viral hit thanks to Charan and Rama Rao’s playful syncopated dance moves and infectious singing. (Chandrabose wrote the lyrics while M.M. Keeravani composed the music.) Instagram playback singers Ankita and Antara Nandy’s loving re-enactment of the musical number has been viewed more than 130,000 times.

In a recent Zoom interview, Rajamouli recalled seeing Indian audiences cheer the “Naatu Naatu” scene on opening night but said he wasn’t sure how the scene would be received outside the country. “Indian filmmaking has some exclusive styles,” Rajamouli said. “Song and dance, for example. It can be very tacky, if used just for the sake of it. But can be very dramatic and compelling” if used strategically. Still, Rajamouli knew that “Naatu Naatu” would be a hit as soon as he cast Charan and Rama Rao, who both had worked with Rajamouli on earlier hits.

In hindsight, Rajamouli’s breakthrough with Western audiences seems almost inevitable after the recent global success of his two-part “Baahubali” historic epics from 2015 and 2017, the latter of which ultimately grossed an unprecedented $20 million in the United States. Rajamouli hopes to adapt a movie version of the Sanskrit epic poem “The Mahabharata” — with Telugu dialogue, because “I think in Telugu” — but not any time soon. “I have a long way to go before I feel I can take on such a project,” he said.

Meanwhile, Marchetti and Hurtado continue to arrange “RRR” screenings in the United States, including at theaters in West Virginia and Hawaii. Marchetti compared the American release of new Indian movies to a continuing celebration, with companies like Variance and Potentate Films helping pass out invitations. “The party may have started earlier and without you,” Marchetti said. “But it’s a good party, whether you show up or not, and you can still show up at any time.”

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How did the Hindi version of RRR become the most popular film on Netflix?

A lesson for Bollywood directors

The blockbuster movie RRR , in its Hindi version, was announced by Netflix as 'the most popular film from India' on the platform.

The film, which is original to Telugu, started streaming in major Indian languages other Hindi on the Zee5 platform . Its Hindi version, which began streaming on Netflix from May 20, is now crowned the most popular ever.

According to Netflix, RRR (Hindi) film, which has a runtime of 3 hours 2 minutes, has been viewed for "over 45 million hours" across the world.

RRR, which released in theatres on March 25 this year, was always destined for greatness. Directed by India's most hotshot director now S S Rajamouli, the man behind such extravagant hits like Eega and the two-part Baahubali series, RRR is a historical epic, as it were, with spectacular action set pieces and rambunctious and adrenaline-pumping dances and songs.

Featuring the energetic stars Jr NTR and Ram Charan in the leads, the film also has Bollywood biggies like Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn playing second fiddle to the Telugu stars' larger than life characterisation.

What Bollywood should do?

Jr NTR plays Bheem, protector of a tribe that lives near the Adilabad Forest. His mission in the film is to find a girl who is kidnapped by the British. Ram Charan is Rama Raju, an Indian cop who works for the British Army and has his own motivations that lead him to undertake a secret mission. The two heroes join forces without knowing the other’s true identity.

Both the characters are loosely based on real-life freedom fighters from Andhra. Though the two were not connected in real-life, the director has come up with a make-belief story that take acceptable cinematic liberty with actual events.

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The Western media (the US, to be specific) has been thrilled to bits with RRR and many of the reviews have been over-the-top in its praise and adulation. In India, the success of RRR has been, rightly, seen as the continuing rise and dominance of films from South India over the Bollywood offerings (Hindi).

But the fact the RRR in its Hindi version is the most popular globally, strangely (and ironically), underscores the importance of Bollywood. After all, the sheer numbers of Hindi-speaking people, both in India and among the diasporic community across the globe, would always make Hindi offerings more popular. It is a numerical reality, nothing more.

The concept of pan-Indian movies has come to stay mainly because South Indian movies now can be made available in Hindi --- either through dubbing or with subtitles.

And smart directors from South India are tapping into the trend by making movies that are high on visual spectacle and astounding images. The national success of visually impressive Tamil web series Suzhal - The Vortex also underscores this point. The series, not surprisingly, was made available in record 30 languages .

South Indian filmmakers seem to understand the current day audiences better. They have come to realise that public continue to like the stories to be emotional, but need them to be a told in bigger and better way. 

It is a lesson that Bollywood directors would do well to emulate.

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Over three decades as a journalist covering current affairs, politics, sports and now technology. Former Editor of News Today, writer of humour columns across publications and a hardcore cricket and cinema enthusiast. He writes about technology trends and suggest movies and shows to watch on OTT platforms. 

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A Wild Indian Blockbuster Is Ravishing Movie Fans, but They’re Missing Its Troubling Subtext

It wasn’t inevitable that the histrionic Indian epic RRR would be the mammoth global success it’s now become. The three-hour, special effects–heavy cinematic event is the most expensive feature in Indian history (no small feat), and its filming and release schedules were bogged down in yearslong delays due to a pandemic that’s deeply ravaged much of India . But the wait, and the work, was more than worth it: RRR is not only a record-setting box-office smash within India but all around the world, garnering more excited chatter and coverage than I’ve seen for almost any 21 st -century Indian flick. After a widely distributed release in late March , the movie’s Hindi-language dub hit Netflix on May 22, becoming the most-watched non-English movie on the platform by June . RRR has broken through in a way unusual for its length, language, and country of origin. Film critics everywhere adore it, as do NFL players and filmgoers crowding sold-out screenings. Rolling Stone deemed it “ the best and most revolutionary blockbuster ” of the year; sociologist and author Nancy Wang Yuen calls it “ three hours of anti-colonialist AWESOMENESS .”

Indian films don’t often get this kind of ubiquity, but RRR ’s breakout success is even more impressive than that fact conveys. Bollywood—the astonishingly prolific Hindi-language film industry that mainly reflects a North Indian sensibility—is the lens through which foreign filmgoers tend to consider Indian cinema, with the exceptions of Criterion-approved Bengali-language directors like Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak . RRR is of neither mold: The movie was filmed in Telugu, a language spoken primarily in South Indian states whose cultural contributions often get dwarfed by Mumbai’s. It used to be that successful Telugu directors like Ram Gopal Varma would transition to Bollywood for nationwide fame, after establishing themselves on the regional scene, yet in recent years, as Bollywood has found itself battling an increasingly censorious government and struggling with big-budget flops , Tollywood (Telugu cinema) and Kollywood (Tamil cinema) have increased their share of the market. RRR ’s director, S.S. Rajamouli, has played no small part in this cultural shift, having found blockbuster success over the past decade with Eega and the two Baahubali films, the latter of which are among the most expensive and highest-grossing Indian movies ever made. (They’re also on Netflix.) With RRR , Rajamouli breaks both the bank and his own records, and fuels a whole new phenomenon.

The movie, a quasi-historical exploration of early-century British-ruled India, bases its two lead characters on real freedom fighters (while making sure to emphasize that everything on screen is fiction): Alluri Sitarama Raju, an Indigenous youngster who led an armed uprising against the British and was executed for it, and Komaran Bheem, a member of the Gond tribes who fought against both the British Raj and the post-Mughal Nizams who ruled his home state of Hyderabad. The movie reimagines their struggles and journeys even as it keeps their names: Raju (Ram Charan) is a member of British law enforcement, and Bheem (N.T. Rama Rao Jr.) is motivated here not by environmental degradation but by the forced purchase of a Gondi girl, Malli (Twinkle Sharma), by a British colonial governor’s family.

That cause leads the protagonists to cross paths, albeit not in the way they expect: Raju, referred to more commonly as Ram (this is important later), is dispatched to Delhi to make sure no Gonds come to take Malli back; Bheem, meanwhile, arrives in the city with a small posse to do just that, disguised as a Muslim in traditional garb. The two come together to save a little boy who’s trapped near a bridge that collapses after a train catches fire and explodes, rescuing him with their superstrength and dexterity. The city celebrates them as heroes, and the two become fast friends without realizing they’re meant to be at loggerheads. (In case you aren’t able to follow the plot, the extremely on-the-nose song lyrics can help you out.) Bheem eventually confesses his true identity to Ram and goes off to save Malli—only to be detained and sentenced to torture and execution by none other than Ram himself. It’s then we find out that Ram is no loyalist, but actually a savvy player of the long game: When he was a child, British soldiers overran his village and slaughtered his family, and his father (portrayed by veteran actor Ajay Devgn) made him promise to get inside of the Raj and ship British arms to the Indian people to arm them for revolution. Bheem’s predicament accelerates the conundrum Ram faces: to keep up this loyalist façade or to break his cover and save his friend.

On an aesthetic level, RRR (short for Roudram Ranam Rudhiram , Telugu for Rise Roar Revolt ) is indeed a helluva fun ride. Pretty much every trope you’ve heard about fluorescent dishoom-dishoom action-packed Indian film is present and dialed up to 110. The superstrong man who can fight off crowds of hundreds of armed assailants, the impossible acrobatics, the inspiring battles against cruel imperialists, and lions and tigers and deer, oh my! (The film notes at the beginning that the animals, who do not hesitate to brutalize anyone in their path, are all CGI.) It’s difficult to convey the scope of action and drama in writing, because RRR is maximum cinema, the kind of in-your-face, colorful, fiery, loud, awe-inspiring experience you really can only get from the movies.

Still, for a student of the Indian canon, the rapturous response to RRR might seem a bit overblown. There’s more action and special effects, sure, but it’s hard to see how RRR deviates from the similarly outrageous blockbusters that came before it. Rajamouli makes explicit references to the iconic 1975 superhit Sholay , a brazen spaghetti Western rip-off that provided the definitive template for the two-friends-against-the-baddies romantic-comedy-musical-and-hypermasculine-bromance-slash-action-epic genre RRR embodies. The ultrapatriotic tone also reminded me of predecessors like Purab Aur Pachhim (1970), directed by and starring the much-decorated Manoj Kumar, who made Indian supremacy over the West a running theme of his work . For actual supermen, one need look no further than the bombastic tale of Mr. India , from 1987. Plus, the lengthy, high-stakes struggle between noble villagers against the punitive colonizers was previously embodied in 2001’s Lagaan , the last Indian film to get an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. And depictions of the more violent revolutionaries of India’s independence fight, who had as much of an impact as Gandhi if not more , can be found in other modern tributes like The Legend of Bhagat Singh and Rang De Basanti . This is not to downplay RRR ’s visual mastery, or to try to marginalize the notable breakthrough of a Telugu movie (I realize I am copping to my own biases by listing Hindi movies in this paragraph), but to state that it’s hard to nail down a specific reason why RRR has spread as a pan-Indian exemplar in a way those other movies didn’t. Even its absurdity—animals being thrown into humans, loud and exaggerated dance sequences, and vehicles exploding in all sorts of weird ways—isn’t especially novel.

In fact, RRR ’s massive fame is more cause for concern than celebration. If we’re going to champion the film in part for its anti-colonial stance , we should likewise take stock of its uglier but no less important subtexts.

Let’s start with the religious iconography. This is hardcore Hinduism through and through, an apt representation for a country that’s employed authoritarian tactics to empower violent Hindu nationalism and transition to a de facto ethnocratic state . After Ram openly defies his colonial employers in order to save Bheem’s life, he’s seen assuming a wardrobe that invokes his namesake Rama, the hero of the ancient Hindi myth Ramayana who is a reincarnation of the powerful Hindu deity Vishnu. (Ram of RRR also uses a bow and an arrow that a background song states is as “strong as Shiva’s,” referring to another prominent deity.) The lead-up to this apotheosis isn’t subtle—Ram’s girlfriend in RRR is named Sita, the same as Rama’s kidnapped beloved in Ramayana —but when he assumes this final form, it’s even more overt: the bow and flaming arrow, the ancient chest-baring garb, the warrior stance, the godly strength.

There’s nothing wrong with a film alluding to the Ramayana , a riveting tale with many beloved adaptations; it’s more a matter of how Ram’s semi-divinity clashes with the depiction of Bheem and his fellow Gonds. In general, India’s treatment of its Adivasis —native tribe members—has been less than generous , but as Gond journalist Akash Poyam wrote in the Caravan , even RRR ’s Gond hero is not the milestone for Indigenous representation he might seem. Bheem is not a physically weaker hero than Ram, but once Ram’s real purpose is revealed, Bheem is immediately made to seem inferior—spiritually, patriotically, societally. In a baffling monologue, Bheem decries the fact that, in contrast with Ram’s long game, he fought the British mostly to rescue Malli, ironically confirming a sneering British officer’s comment that the Gond “tribals” are driven by the protection of their own. The stereotypes proliferate as the Gonds are seen having a unique control over wild animals like tigers and snakes, reducing a rich community to a group of primitive animal whisperers (one of them does a bird call near the beginning, naturally). And when Ram becomes Rama—a pointed transformation, considering that Ram is clearly of a higher caste than Bheem—the Gond leader reduces himself to the level of student, begging in the movie’s last line to learn from him.

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Some critics have praised RRR for showing a high-caste Hindu forming a tight bond with someone he perceives to be Muslim, but this is belied by the fact that actual Muslim characters are seen nowhere in the film. (When Bheem confesses his true mission to Ram, his first words are, “I am not a Muslim.”) The Rama iconography later in the film, added to Bheem’s submissiveness, makes this narrative choice seem more pointed: Commemoration of the Ramayana has been one of the bloodiest flashpoints for Islamophobic violence in India, with Hindu nationalists having destroyed a Mughal-era mosque that was supposedly located at Rama’s birthplace. The Rama temple now constructed in its place is a symbol for the belief that India should be a holy land for Hindus; it’s even been put on billboards in Times Square . It’s likewise worth noting that the Vande Mataram custom flag that appears in essential scenes like the boy’s rescue—protecting Bheem from the train’s flames, for one—was in part designed by Veer Savarkar , the father of Hindu nationalism.

Plus, one wouldn’t know from watching RRR that Muslim leaders were some of India’s most storied freedom fighters—not even from the gallery of famed independence icons at the end of the movie, with no Saifuddin Kitchlew , no Zakir Husain , no Asaf Ali . Some stink has already been raised about the fact that the song also excludes Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi, the former of whom has become a pariah for India’s right wingers , the latter of whose assassin is now praised by many Hindu nationalists . (For a recent Indian film that does pay homage to the era’s Muslim activists, I recommend 2018’s Manto , also on Netflix.)

Obviously, one film cannot encompass everything, and as the filmmakers have themselves noted, RRR is sheer fantasy. I cannot fault viewers for enjoying RRR so much, whether they ironically lap up the superhuman stunts or get swept up in the thrilling anti-imperial action. I’m concerned more about the timing of it all, the global presence, the recipe for viral success that other filmmakers will be eyeing. It’s an ingenious form of soft-power propaganda, one that can be interpreted as positively asserting an otherwise-marginalized ideology. Other notable Indian films—the aforementioned Purab Aur Pachhim , LOC: Kargil , Gadar: Ek Prem Katha , and many, many more—have raised fiery nationalism to nowhere near the same viewership. RRR seems to have figured out an apt formula.

Already, it’s far from the only recent historical-fiction Indian blockbuster to soft-peddle nationalist ideology. This year alone, The Kashmir Files , praised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, garnered controversy for giving Hindu nationalists more Islamophobic ammo through the use of alternative history. The Marathi period film Pawankhind whips up furor against the historic Muslim-led Mughal Empire , a sore spot for Hindutva acolytes. Even Rajamouli’s previous hits, like Baahubali , have been uplifted as “ the answer to all anti-Hindu Bollywood crooks .” You don’t have to take my word for it. You can read the words of Hindu nationalists themselves, in provocative headlines like this one: “ If The Kashmir Files Gave Liberals the Wounds, RRR Is the One Rubbing the Salt .”

In another context, I’d be excited about an adventurous Telugu-language film finally getting a wide-scale audience and bringing South Indian cinema to more of the world. But with RRR , I feel uneasy. I can’t say you shouldn’t experience this dazzling roller coaster of a movie, but I will say that you should keep your eyes open while doing so.

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• Makers of Jr. NTR-Neel's announce shoot date of their next as the 'RRR' actor celebrates his birthday

Makers of Jr. NTR-Neel's announce shoot date of their next as the 'RRR' actor celebrates his birthday

Devara Part - 1 | Kannada Song - Fear

Jr NTR turns 41: Allu Arjun, Mahesh Babu, Ram Charan extend wishes to 'RRR' actor

Tollywood superstar jr ntr is marking his 41st birthday today, may 20. on the occasion, actors mahesh babu, allu arjun and ram charan extended their wishes..

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• Jr NTR rang his 41st birthday on May 20
• Actors Allu Arjun, Mahesh Babu and Ram Charan extended wishes
• Jr NTR will be next seen in 'Devara: Part One'

On Jr NTR's 41st birthday on May 20, his friends and well-wishers from the film industry extended their wishes through social media. Actors Allu Arjun, Mahesh Babu and NTR's 'RRR' co-actor Ram Charan wished him through their respective X handles.

Allu Arjun shared his wish on X and wrote, "Many many happy returns of the day Bava. FEAR is FIRE @tarak9999 (sic)."

Many many happy returns of the day Bava â€æ FEAR is FIRE ðŸ”åðŸ”åðŸ”å @tarak9999 — Allu Arjun (@alluarjun) May 20, 2024

Ram Charan, who shared screen space with Jr NTR in the blockbuster actioner 'RRR', shared a picture of himself with him on X and wrote, "Happiest birthday to my dearest @tarak9999 (sic)."

Happiest birthday to my dearest @tarak9999 pic.twitter.com/yocPcidL08 — Ram Charan (@AlwaysRamCharan) May 20, 2024

Mahesh Babu wished Tarak via X and wrote, "Happy birthday @tarak9999 ! Wishing you a year full of joy and success! (smiley emoji) (sic)."

Happy birthday @tarak9999 ! Wishing you a year full of joy and success! 😊 — Mahesh Babu (@urstrulyMahesh) May 20, 2024

Meanwhile, on the eve of Jr NTR's birthday, the creators of his upcoming film 'Devara' released the first single, titled 'Fear Song'.

Directed by Koratala Siva, ‘Devara’ will unfold in two parts . The film is produced by Yuvasudha Arts and NTR Arts and presented by Nandamuri Kalyan Ram.

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