RRR

Composite Score: 86.83

Starring: N.T. Rama Rao Jr., Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt, Olivia Morris, Shriya Saran, Ray Stevenson, Alison Doody, Samuthirakani, Rajeev Kanakala, and Rahul Ramakrishna

Director: S.S. Rajamouli

Writers: Vijayendra Prasad and S.S. Rajamouli

Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama, Musical

MPAA Rating: TV-MA

Box Office: $166.60 million worldwide

My take on Watching This Film:

                RRR is S.S. Rajamouli’s acclaimed Indian action film about two Indian revolutionaries during British colonial rule – Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem. The film features Ram Charan as Raju and N.T. Rama Rao, Jr., as Bheem, whose paths in life put them on a collision course that spelled trouble for the British empire. It features music by M. M. Keeravani and was considered by many (myself included) to be one of the best films of 2022. Political snubs at the hands of India’s nomination board for the submission for Best International Feature kept the film from competing legitimately across the Academy’s many awards categories, but it still won an Oscar for Best Original Song for the incredibly catchy “Naatu Naatu”.

                RRR exemplifies everything that makes international cinema, and especially that of India so important, fun, and engaging in the modern era. Its over-the-top action sequences, memorable musical numbers, and intense melodrama about two men forced to be enemies despite their seemingly inevitable friendship showcase swings and commitments to entertainment and quality that you rarely see at the same time in many Hollywood films. Two men jumping from a horse and a motorcycle off of a bridge, attached by a rope, into a burning river to rescue a trapped child sounds like the type of thing you’d hear about someone else seeing in a Steven Seagal film, but in this film, it feels so natural and fun that you can’t help but be drawn into the intensity of it all. Themes of anticolonialism, friendship, and solidarity among the common people are all icing on the incredibly decadent cake that is the action-adventure musical of RRR. It’s spectacle at its finest, and anyone who hasn’t watched it needs to remedy that ASAP.

                RRR feels in many ways like the ideal entrance for Western audiences into the world of Indian cinema; with a dramatic story that’s equal parts familiar and foreign and music and action that feel like the best of what Hollywood has ever tried to offer, it earns its place among the greats. An extended runtime and incredibly over-the-top story and action should be knocks against it, and for some they still might be, but those who know what they’re getting into should find it to be an excellent film. You can currently stream this film (in Hindi, not its original Telugu) on Netflix if you’d like to watch it and experience the hype for yourself.