• RRR

4/12/25 (Sat)

This Telugu-language film was a massive hit in Japan on its initial run in autumn 2022, quickly becoming the largest-grossing Indian film ever released in the country. It had the distinction of inspiring a stage version by the inimitable all-female Takarazuka troupe, which seems odd under the group’s star system given that the film has two male leads of equal importance. But there was no way to find out since those tickets were impossible to get. Still, it piqued my interest in the film, so I was keen to catch it when it returned for a second run. The theater was impressively full for an old flick. RRR, though never explained in the film, was apparently intended only as a working title using the initials of the producer and two main actors. The producer evidently came to like it and found words that fit, rendered in English as “Rise Roar Revolt”.

The film is an account of two revolutionaries from the 1920s who rebelled against British rule. In real life, they never actually met, so the concept is pure fiction – and the writers create a no-holds-barred story of Marvel-like superheroes fighting dastardly moustache-twisting British villains. The plot, such as it is, involves the abduction of a small girl from a local tribe by the British ruler, whose wife liked her hand-painting artistry and decided to take her home. A man from the tribe, Bheem, vows to rescue her and goes to Delhi disguised as a Muslim. At the same time, the British are aware of the threat and have enlisted an Indian officer, Ram, to capture the man with the promise of a promotion to a prestigious post.

The two men, both working undercover, meet and become close friends without realizing the other’s identity. When the truth emerges, they suddenly try to destroy each other. Bheem is caught and brutally flogged by Ram but manages to escape. The latter is then accused of treachery and put into solitary confinement. However, Bheem happens upon Ram’s beloved and learns more about the man’s motives. That prompts him to go back and rescue Ram, and the two together take on the mighty British rulers in an eye-popping climax involving an attack by wild animals, a vast store of explosives, and feats of superhuman strength and derring-do.

The story is absurd from start to finish, and that’s without even mentioning a silly sideline involving a kind British woman who becomes romantically involved with Bheem. But it’s all so unapologetically outrageous that resistance is futile. The extreme violence, the demonic British, the drippy melodramas of the kidnapped kid and Ram’s dutiful wife, Bheem’s sappy infatuation with the British woman, the increasingly zany fighting techniques of the two heroes – the director blows up every emotion and plot point into a cartoon. It’s hard to take any of this seriously, but that’s not a criticism as it’s not trying to be serious in the first place. The sight of Ram firing away with rifles in each hand reminded me of John Wayne’s famous scene in True Grit, except that Ram was riding on Bheem’s shoulders rather than a horse and shooting with awesome accuracy in all directions. The love story between Bheem and the British lady as well as between Ram and his wife were mere distractions between the fighting and shooting and torture and, of course, the inevitable dances. Most notable was the breathless dance competition with the British, which was of course dominated by the two heroes, but the choreography overall was as joyously over-the-top as everything else. Never a dull moment.

The film fortunately doesn’t attempt to deliver any profound “message” or justify the ultra-macho spectacle on display. Once we’ve accepted the ludicrousness of it all, it’s just a matter of seeing if they could top themselves in the following scenes (they did). It does not feel its three-hour running time. A fun show.