RRR (2022) – My rating: 10/10

RRR is an Indian Telugu-language epic action drama directed by S. S. Rajamouli, who co-wrote the film with V. Vijayendra Prasad. It was produced by D. V. V. Danayya of DVV Entertainment. RRR centers around fictional versions of two Indian revolutionaries,  their friendship, and their fight against the British Raj. Out of all the 95th Oscar-nominated movies, RRR brought me the most joy, entertainment, and excitement.  I loved this movie, plus it’s on Netflix.
In 1920, during the British Raj, administrator Scott Buxton (Ray Stevenson) and his wife Catherine Buxton (Alison Doody) visit a forest in Adilabad, where they abduct Malli (Twinkle Sharma), a young girl with a talent for artistry, from the Gond tribe. Enraged by the act, the tribe’s guardian Komaram Bheem/Akhtar (Rama Rao), travels to Delhi with the intent of rescuing her, under the guise of a Muslim man named Akhtar. Elsewhere, the Nizamate of Hyderabad, sympathetic to the Raj, warns Scott’s office of the impending danger. Undeterred, Catherine enlists the assistance of A. Rama Raju/Alluri Sitarama Raju (Charan), an ambitious officer in the Indian Imperial Police to extinguish the threat. Embarking on his new assignment, Raju and his uncle, Venkateswarulu (Samuthirakani), attend several pro-independence gatherings in the hopes of finding clues. His opinions attract the attention of Lachhu (Rahul Ramakrishna), Bheem’s gullible aide.

From this point, the story, which was already exciting, picks up, displaying the extraordinary skills of these two starring legends, Raju and Bheem. The racist, powerful administrator and his power-hungry, racist wife caused many deaths and revolutions to take place.  The acting was outstanding and the cinematography was breathtaking.  From the onset of this movie, I heard music that grabbed my attention immediately.  Out of all this movie stood for, the only nomination it received was for best original song. I grant you this is a fantasy however it leaves you feeling happy, and wanting more, even though the running time for RRR is three hours and seven minutes. I don’t think anything was left out from the beginning to the end, all questions were answered. RRR had romance, lies, trickery, anger, revenge, justice, public flogging, surrender, friendship, imprisonment, rescue, humor, compassion, fantasy, and lots of action and drama.  You just couldn’t ask for more.

RRR opened to universal acclaim from both Indian and Western critics. Praise was for its screenplay and direction by Rajamouli, the bombastic action sequences, characterization, performances from its leads, and musical numbers. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 95% of 94 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.20/10. The website’s consensus reads, “Intoxicatingly over the top, RRR pulls out all the stops to make the absolute most of its 187-minute runtime.” Made on a budget of ₹550 crores ($72 million), RRR is the most expensive Indian film to date. RRR grossed $14,869,112 (9.4%) domestically, $142,988,696 (90.6%) internationally, and $157,857,808 Worldwide.  RRR is currently streaming on Netflix — Check It Out!

FYI: Rajamouli came across stories about the lives of Rama Raju and Bheem and connected the coincidences between them, imagining what would have happened had they met and been friends. In June 2022, the film was ranked 86th globally on the list of Rotten Tomatoes “The 100 Best Movies 3 hours or Longer”, making it the third Indian film to be on the list after Lagaan (12th) and Gangs of Wasseypur (66th). USA Today ranked the film #1 in their list of “Best Movies of 2022 so far” in June of the same year.

[RRR is Oscar-nominated at the 95th Academy Awards for BEST: Music (Original Song) – Totaling 1 Oscar nomination]

WON an Oscar for ORIGINAL SONG (Naatu Naatu)

 

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