RRR - Cheap Thoughts

This is as far removed from a picture as I can be. My experience with Indian cinema, culture and history is astonishingly small, and all information I do know about this film and it’s cultural context comes from secondary sources, so this is practically my entry point that came to me entirely through word of mouth. This is important context to establish when discussing RRR because my god, what a film to start with.

If you’ve heard anything about RRR it’s most likely been hyperbolic praise claiming that everything the film does is simply…the most it could be done. Every action, every emotion, every camera movement is as bombastic and grandiose as it could be, which is very much the truth. There is no ambiguity or room for personal interpretation, the film is determined to make sure you not only understand exactly what the characters are feeling, but they are feeling the most of that specific emotion than anyone possibly could. If two people are friends, they are frolicking in fields with glee, if someone is heartbroken, they are screaming their heart out and flooding their home with tears, if there is a fight scene they strike with so much adrenaline and power the Earth will tremble at their presence. The film follows the story of two men who quickly become best friends, not realising they are on opposite sides of a war, and we follow the tale of their friendship and their inevitable clash of ideology as well as fists. The two are described as the friendship between a storm and a volcano, and they absolutely earn those comparisons, these men Bheem (N. T. Rama Rao Jr.) and Raju (Ram Charan) do everything with the passion and force that alters the world around them.

These large personalities aren’t just limited to their macho violence but in their love for one another, their sympathy for those around them and their utter joy when dancing together, oh yes because this film is also a musical, they really put everything in here and somehow do it all excellently. This is the true beauty of RRR, yes everything is dialed up to 11, but it never loses the passion and love that focuses the picture, everything the characters do is not for their hatred of the enemy, or the external desire of the actors to look cooler than everyone else, but on Bheem and Raju’s love for their people, for their families and for one another. They will move Heaven and Earth for them and the talents of director S. S. Rajamouli gives them the girth and gravitas to make it happen.

RRR is a little bit of everything, actually, no, it’s a lot of everything, it is the most of everything and it is the best of everything. A Maximalist Modern Masterpiece.

-Danny