How the action-packed “RRR” took the world by storm

Editor’s note (January 24th 2023): This article was updated to reflect the film’s Oscar nomination

INDIA’S FILM industry rivals Hollywood for scale and spectacle. Yet Marvel’s superhero sagas and other American blockbusters have worldwide appeal; Bollywood’s productions have struggled to make much of an impact outside India. That was, until, S.S. Rajamouli’s Telugu-language epic, “RRR” (“Rise Roar Revolt”, pictured), achieved crossover success in America and Japan. It grossed over $150m worldwide, around $14m of which was in North America. (“K.G.F: Chapter 2”, the highest-grossing film in India last year, made around half of that in North America). Indians living in the diaspora usually embrace Bollywood flicks. But “RRR” enticed new audiences, demonstrating that Indian crowd-pleasers are no less kinetic and entertaining than Tinseltown’s output.

“RRR” is set in India during the 1920s, and draws attention to the inequalities and abuses of colonial rule. The quasi-historical plot imagines two real-life Indian heroes teaming up to fight against British oppression. They “were born at the same time but they never met”, explains Mr Rajamouli, the director (pictured below).

Komaram Bheem (N.T. Rama Rao junior) is a warrior who travels to Delhi to rescue a girl from a life of servitude to a British governor. His counterpart, Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan), is a ruthless grunt for the Imperial police, tasked with capturing the revolutionary. Eventually, the policeman turns against the British, and what ensues is an exuberant tale of redemption and liberation.

Both actors are well known, and so the “multi-starrer” was highly anticipated in India. But what explains its enthusiastic reception in America? (“RRR” was re-released in the summer, and a version dubbed in Hindi is streaming on Netflix.) Mr Rajamouli modestly credits a pent-up hunger for thrills after the pandemic, as well as the film’s heroic narrative. But he is also a master orchestrator of action sequences, comparable to Christopher Nolan (“Tenet”). Mr Rajamouli sees himself as a conductor. Film-making allows you to play with time, to slow it down and speed it up, he explains. “I like the audience to feel something is coming, but they don’t know what. Suddenly, I give them a moment which is out of this world—and make them stay in that moment”, he says.

In “RRR” slow motion and bodacious digital effects emphasise the rebels’ high-stakes exploits. These scenes recall the giddy action of Buster Keaton, a silent-movie star, or Stephen Chow’s rambunctious martial-arts films. Elsewhere, frenetic dance routines and larger-than-life combat sequences abound. Bheem fights off a tiger and a wolf in the jungle; later the two men rescue a child from a flaming river. Menageries of animals do battle against British soldiers.

“Action essentially creates wonderment”, Mr Rajamouli says, describing action and emotion as complementary. His masala (mixed-genre) film-making has triumphed. The two-part “Baahubali” franchise smashed domestic records: “Baahubali 2: The Conclusion” (2017), is the highest-grossing flick in India of all time. Both “Eega” (2012), a gonzo romantic adventure, and “Magadheera” (2009), an audacious reincarnation tale that combines swordsmanship with street-bike racing, were critically acclaimed.

Bollywood’s Hindi-language output has historically dominated India’s film industry. But Mr Rajamouli has broken through with films in Telugu, a language spoken in the south of India, where he is from. As a youngster, he watched “Tollywood” (Telugu) classics and the occasional blockbuster in English, such as “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. He learned his chops assisting in editing suites and concocting scenarios for his father, K.V. Vijayendra Prasad, a well-known screenwriter. To this day, Mr Rajamouli’s films are a family affair: his father writes them, his wife is a costume designer and his cousin, M.M. Keeravani, composes their catchy soundtracks. “RRR” won a Golden Globe for Best Original Song, a first for an Indian production.

Not all viewers are overjoyed, however. Critics of “RRR” dislike its Hindu-nationalist overtones, a disturbing trend in some Indian cinema. The rally-style credit sequence honours national heroes but fails to mention Mohandas Gandhi or Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, whose legacy Hindu nationalists are re-evaluating. Mr Rajamouli disagrees with this kind of assessment of his work. “I understand ‘nationalistic’ as having love for your nation”, he says. “I have read stories of many, many freedom fighters. I respect all of them.”

Such concerns are unlikely to dampen the film’s appeal abroad. Its admirers include James Cameron (“Avatar: The Way of Water”), James Gunn (“Guardians of the Galaxy”) and Jessica Chastain, an actress. A sequel is already in the works. And thanks to a careful marketing campaign and several accolades, “RRR” is an Oscar contender. It was nominated for Best Original Song on January 24th. No Indian movie has ever won an Academy Award. What a dazzling finale to Mr Rajamouli’s film that would be. ■