RRR Movie Review — Sucharita Tyagi
Hi. Aa gayi main waapas.
To watch and talk about a movie that claims it’s capable of doing this —
Had Indian cinema lost its glory? Does Rajamouli succeed in “bringing it back”?
Hmm.
Hey y’all, my name is Sucharita, welcome back to my channel for another movie review. Today we’re talking about SS Rajamouli’s big-budget extravaganza, ‘Roudram Ranam Rudhiram’, ‘Rise Roar Revolt’, or ‘RRR’.
Jiska I watched the Hindi dub out of curiosity. Also the PVR I was at, had vibrating seats. How I'm ever going to go back to watching movies without vibrating seats, I have no idea.
But I digress.
RRR is a fictionalized retelling of a time in India’s freedom struggle. At the center are cinematic versions of two real-life freedom fighters, Alluri Sitaram Raju and Kumaram Bheem, their stories reshaped to suit Rajamouli’s grand design.
Design is what the film is offering, and what it delivers on. Mythology, masculinity, Hinduism and general superstar action poses create such an intricate, meticulous tapestry on the giant screen in front of you, you forget this film is set within India’s freedom struggle.
The colonizers themselves are reduced to frothy, cartoonishly evil, one-tone monsters, and everyone else responsible for enabling India’s independence, people, and organizations, are entirely left out to enhance the heavily embellished stories of the two lead characters.
Not that this style of storytelling is bad storytelling, it's just very very extra. Characters jump off of imamate objects as superheroes would, one’s introduction scene has him defeating mobs of hundreds within 10 minutes, the other wins over a literal tiger.
When this excellently crafted display of robust manliness subsides for a brief bit and Rajamouli plus co-writer KV Vijeyndra Prasad goes into the people behind the muscles, the men who had to forgo all life plans to join the freedom movement, is when the movie begins to speak to you a bit.
While Ram Charan’s introduction sequence left me feeling queasy for multiple reasons, it's NT Rama Rao Jr’s ‘Bheem’ who brings the sentiment which might invite you to look for this film’s emotional core.
Bheem is a gond tribal, whose intro shot has him bathed in blood, baiting a wolf. While he runs towards the trap set for the wolf he realizes a TIGER is now chasing him and using brute strength, sharp wit, and learnings from his community, he overcomes the situation. Rajamouli’s whole approach to this character is established within this exhilarating sequence, it's an intro scene with such dedication jiske liye bicchh jaayega koi bhi actor.
As you can probably tell at this point, RRR is trying the most. Itney paise ticket par kharch nahi kiye hain jitna yeh film wants me to vasool, phir complaints nahi aani chahiye ki mazey nahi aaye. Toh gorey log ka atyaachar bhi dikhaayenge, lekin one gora and brown person dance off bhi hai beech mein. Ram Charan won't just punch people, he’ll also punch holes in walls. NT Rama Rao Jr. won't just save a young Gond girl from captivity, he will also have a white woman fall in love with his simple, adorable ways. It's all dialed up to 11, including a strong homoerotic undercurrent, and everyone on screen is in on it.
RRR doesn’t offer much in terms of emotional or cerebral gratification, but KK Senthil Kumar’s cinematography, coupled with A. Sreekar Prasad’s editing, set to MM Keervani’s rousing music more than makes up for the lack of a compelling screenplay, which pauses and restarts constantly. These aren’t mere men, these are deities flying in slow motion, the film fully morphing into a hybrid of Ramayan and Mahabharat in the second half……and I just had to stop watching it as a film critic looking to translate this for an audience.
RRR needs no translation, its only commitment is towards overwhelming its viewers with the expansive landscape, ridiculously well-choreographed action sequences with fire and water and animals, and two VERY angry, VERY indestructible men. Alia Bhatt gets one scene with some dialogue; the rest only has her crying missing her husband. Shriya Saran doesn’t even get to do that. I mean the title RRR was apparently an abbreviation for Rajamouli and Ram Charan and NT Rama Rao Jr., toh….
“Ab khoon machal raha hai asli goli chalaane ke liye” jaisey dialogue ko nazarandaaz karke agar udta hu agora grabbing a rifle mid-air for a perfect shot jaisey shots mein dilchaspi hai, emotional core ki talaash mein nikal ke agar unending flying arrows going through throats is your jam, if youre more maximum than minimum, RRR will work for you. For me, not so much.
Theatres mein lagi hai dekh aao.
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