‘South Indian cinema’ is known for its anti-gravity action scenes, swift savage dialogues, epic comedy kings, and cliche love stories with a twist. It is a collective term for the movies made in four different Indian languages – Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam. It has been expanding ever since S.S.Rajamouli directed Bahubali, released in 2015, earned worldwide popularity. Their larger-than-life films, especially in the recent decades, like RRR, are successfully making their way to the hearts of Hindi audiences and their audiences around the globe.
The success of films like K.G.F., Bahubali and Bahubali-2, and Pushpa has leveled up the south Indian cinema like never before. The positive response of people towards another recent masterpiece of Rajamouli, RRR, is enough to show their growing popularity. It has become the third highest-earning Indian movie worldwide in its second week, surpassing Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015). It stars N.T.R.and Ram Charan with Ajay Devgan and Alia Bhatt in cameo roles. So through this article, let’s dig a deeper insight into the film and review it together.
About the Movie RRR
RRR is a recent south Indian Telugu language movie by the ‘Bahubali’ famed director Koduri Srisaila Sri Rajamouli (S.S. Rajamouli). It was released in theatres on March 25, 2022. The meaning of ‘RRR’ is Rise Roar Revolt. It is a history-based fictional drama depicting the incidences from pre-independent India. The film was written by K.V. Vijeyendra Prasad and produced by DVV Entertainment. The movie stars NTR (Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Jr.), Ram Charan(Konidela Ram Charan Teja), Ajay Devgan, Alia Bhatt, Shriya Saran, Ray Stevenson, and Olivia Morris. The story revolves around two protagonists, Alluri Seetharama Raju (Ram Charan) and Komaram Bheem (Jr. NTR), the revolutionaries fighting against the British Raj.
The title
The title RRR, looks kinda weird at first sight. But if only letters are used as the title, they are definitely an abbreviation to something. In this case, RRR is Rise, Roar, and Revolt. Yes, that’s the expanded form, telling the story itself, leaving behind only a question of who is to revolt and whom? And to find the answer, you will have to watch the film where we will witness the British era to figure out the antagonists.
Trailer
The trailer was launched on December 9 last year that spread like a fire. The catchy visuals with the entertaining phrases of its actors have set the fire. NTR and his roar against the Tiger quickly caught up the audience towards the film and hyped up the already going wait for this. The visuals of Ram Charan as Rama and Alia Bhatt as Sita were heartening and reminded everyone of the epic Ramayan couple once again. The trailer became youtube’s second most-viewed movie trailer in the Telugu language in 2021 after the Vakeel Saab trailer. It also set the record for the most liked Indian movie trailer in less than 24 hours of 2021, with around 1.2 million likes.
Plot
The story is about two diametrically opposite characters. One is a police officer, Ram, whereas the other is a revolutionary, Bheem. They are in search of each other but become friends later for another mission unknowingly.
The drama begins when British governor Scott and his wife Catherine abduct a Gond girl Malli, forcefully and bring her with them to Delhi. To save her, Bheem chalks out a rescue mission. The Nizam of Hyderabad informs Scott about Bheem’s mission, for which Ram, a police officer, volunteers to get a promotion.
Later, they meet accidentally for saving a boy in the village, unaware of their real identities. They soon develop a friendship bond. Rama introduces Bheem to Scott’s niece Jenny without knowing who he actually is, and with Jenny’s help, Bheem reaches Malli and assures her of her freedom. This is just the beginning of a lot more drama and twists ahead.
In the next scene, Bhhem saves Rama from a snake, reveals his truth to him, and goes away. He then attacks the palace of the governor, rescuing Malli, but Rama stops him, who is the police. Bheem gets arrested and sentenced to death, while Rama is promoted.
After realizing his mistake, Ram tries to help Bheem escape the punishment and requests Scott to kill him on the outskirts. Scott soon realizes the plot and injures Ram. Bheem succeeds in freeing himself and combats with the police officers on the scene. But, a misunderstanding separates the two protagonists. When Ram tries to save Malli and fires at the guard, Bheem misunderstands it as an attack on Malli. He fights Ram and escapes with Malli.
But the story isn’t over yet. Months later, Bheem meets Sita, Rama’s fiancee, who tells him about the death sentence against his husband for setting his best friend free. Regretting his decisions from the past, Bheem is now on a rescue mission for Rama. He even succeeds in that. And as usual, a lot more drama, and a lot more action await the audience.
They both fight British officials while running from imprisonment, followed by that motorbike scene, which made headlines after the trailer. Both Catherine and Scott die while Rama and Bheem reunite with their families and relatives in their respective villages. In this way, the story ends on a happy note. The film tried to serve everything on your plate – drama, emotions, celebrations, music, action, thrill, and plot twists.
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Action
Action? Who talks about them when you know it’s a south Indian movie? What it means is that when there is no action in south Indian films, that will be more surprising. And the best part is these action scenes don’t bore you. Remember that roar of Bheem against the Tiger!, shutting the mouth of the Tiger up. What else can be more wonderful? The larger-than-life visual effects and the mastery of the direction of Rajamouli, have weaved the scenes into breathtaking moments. It has horseriding, climbing up a palace, blasts, and more. One thing is for sure, the action sequels from south cinema are one of a kind.
Cameos
Ajay Devgan and Alia Bhatt played a limited yet significant role in the movie, as Rajamouli admits this. Ajay Devgan plays the role of Rama’s father, who died fighting against the British raj his whole life. Alia plays the role of Sita, the fiancee of Rama, who takes Bheem’s help to save his future husband from the death sentence in the second half of the movie. Although they are short roles, both the actors charged a whopping amount of money. Ajay Devgan charged around 35 crores for his seven-day shift, whereas Alia charged around 9 crores as she was the lead lady in the movie.
Treatment of the movie
The advancing technology and visual effects are increasing in movie making. Therefore, they lead to big-budgeted films. But they are worth watching as an audience. RRR is a big-budget film of around 550 crores, but its treatment is par excellence. The sets are village-based, depicting the British era. It is treated with the feeling of Nationalism, just like people of those times.
The movie also relates to two epic Indian mythologies-Ramayana and Mahabharata. For example, we see the separation of Sita from Ram as was in the epic Ramayan. Also, the Britishers (antagonist), capture the two protagonists instead of Sita. Bheem is analogous to Hanuman, who receives a message from Sita to save Rama. Bheem is a muscular and well-built analogy to Bhim from Mahabharata. Watching Rama and Bheem fighting using the bow and arrow and spears feels like a crossover of the two epics.
Music
The music in the film RRR is given by M.M.Keeravani, who composed the score along with the soundtrack. Its music rights have been sold to Lahari music(for all south languages) and the T-series (for Hindi soundtracks) for overall 250 crores, a record price for any south Indian album. The songs and background are all set against the historical theme.
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