Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/MUMBAI: The action-blockbuster movie RRR has been in theatres in India for 10 months, yet the discussion surrounding it has remained strong.
Meryl Sebastian of the BBC explains why the film has enthralled fans worldwide as it rides its popularity wave into Hollywood’s award season.
According to director SS Rajamouli was primarily made for Indians who were residing in India and abroad.
However, since its premiere, the movie – which stars Jr NTR and Ram Charan in Telugu and depicts the fictional tale of two real-life Indian rebels fighting against British authority – has broken numerous barriers.
It has made over 12 billion rupees ($146.5 million, £120 million) worldwide, spent weeks in the top 10 on Netflix United States, and is now shattering box office records in Japan.
It has appeared on several prestigious lists of the top movies of 2022, including those from the British Film Institute and the US National Board of Review.
At the movie’s global reception, Rajamouli’s joy and surprise are evident in his many interviews. He remarked recently on the US talk show Late Night with Seth Meyers, “When we started getting appreciation from the West, we assumed, ‘Those who went to watch the movie will be friends of the Indians.”
People in the West cheer the screening of RRR movie
According to Siddhant Adlakha, a reviewer based in New York and a member of The New York Film Critics Circle, which named Rajamouli as best director in December, when RRR was initially released in the US, it was similar to other mainstream Indian movies. According to Adlakha, this response is “unlike any other Indian movie film in recent memory.”
People can cheer and hoot in social media clips from movie screenings. The exuberant energy on show, typical for films starring superstars in Indian cinemas, is uncommon in the US.
Although Chello Show, a movie in Gujarati, beat RRR to become India’s official Oscar entry, the buzz surrounding the film has pushed it into the race for nominations, and many Hollywood filmmakers and actors have praised it as an “amazing blast.”
According to the trade magazine Variety, the movie may be nominated for awards in the following categories: Best Film, Best Director, Best Original Song, and Best Cinematography.
According to author and film critic Sowmya Rajendran, India’s cinema has become one of the most politicized media in the country.
Therefore, she argues, RRR’s appropriation of two historical activists who stood up for tribal rights and against the British and its portrayal of them as legendary Hindu heroes invited greater scrutiny.
However, Rajendran continues, Western viewers primarily perceive RRR “as an anti-colonial narrative because that’s the politics that’s instantly clear to them.” A few publications in the US have made an effort to address this.
Adlakha claims that while many claim the symbolism is beyond their understanding, the criticism is also becoming part of the conversation surrounding the movie. While these discussions evolve, one thing is clear: Rajamouli and his team have broken through barriers inside and beyond the Indian cinema industry.
And this might only be the start; making a Hollywood movie, which Rajamouli claims is “the ambition of every director in the world,” could be his next move.
