The multi-starrer action-drama RRR was one of the much-awaited films for 2022. The buzz around it has been present since the time it was announced. The trailer itself crossed 150 million views across five languages on YouTube. The formal announcement for the film was made in March 2018. Initially, the film was scheduled for a theatrical release on July 30, 2020, but due to production delays and the uncertainty surrounding the COVID pandemic, it finally got released this year. The film opened to some amazingly positive reviews from audiences and critics alike. The actors’ performances and the screenplay are being showered with high praises.
Made on a budget of $72 million, RRR has broken the record for the highest opening day collection earned by an Indian film and has made a whopping $31 million worldwide on its first day and currently claims $132 million worldwide. Yahoo! has reported that the film "now sits in third position in the list of Indian cinema’s all-time box office champions." With so much going with this 1920s period film and it shattering so many box office records, let's shed some light on why there has been so much hype behind RRR.
RRR's Plot
RRR is an Indian Telegu language movie directed by S.S. Rajamouli. RRR, an abbreviation that stands for Raama, Roudra, Rushitam in Telegu, roughly translates to Rise, Revolt, Revenge in English. It is a fictional story based on the lives of two legendary freedom fighters. "The movie unveils both of them away from home (in Delhi) before they started fighting for the country. It's a pan-Indian film painted on a large canvas," reads the official Twitter statement from the makers of RRR. The story is set in the 1920s pre-independent era and shows the fight against the British Raj and Nazam of Hyderabad.
In 2019, Rajamouli told The Indian Express that:
“When I read about Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem, it was exciting to know that their story is similar. They never met each other. What if they had met? What if they had got inspired by each other? That is what RRR is about. It is completely fictitious. The film is mounted on a very large scale. We had to do a lot of research for it. To know costumes, their dialect, their way of living, and that is why it took so much time for us to get this together.”
The film is written by K.V. Vijayendra Prasad and S.S. Rajamouli. During the press meet, Rajamouli said, "The idea to present the RRR story was planted in my mind when I saw Motorcycle Diaries." He is famous for his works in high-budget high fantasy and period films. D.V.V. Danayya of DVV Entertainment is the producer of this epic, high-budget movie. Although excessively shot across India, the film does have a few sequences in Ukraine and Bulgaria.
RRR's Cast
Rajamouli finalized the cast in March 2019. Ram Charan plays Alluri Sitarama Raju, and NT Rama Rao Jr. plays Komaram Bheem, the two Telugu tribal leaders. This is the first time you can see these marvelous actors together on the big screen. It is also the Telugu debut of leading Bollywood stars Ajay Devgn and Alia Bhatt.
Bhatt, who plays the role of Sita, is paired opposite Charan. Devgn plays Venkata Rama Raju, an on-screen mentor to Charan and Rama Rao’s character. British actor Olivia Morris who plays Jennifer, is paired opposite Rama Rao. he cast also includes U.S. actor Edward Sonnenblick, British actor Ray Stevenson and Irish actor Alison Doody.
In an interview with Deadline, Rama Rao talked about working with Rajamouli, saying:
"This is my fourth collaboration with him. We started together in 2001 when I was still a naïve actor and he was a naïve director, but he had big ideas of achieving something in Indian cinema. Nothing has changed, he is the same guy, he’s one big task master. The way he gives his actors scope to perform, you know that this is the best thing you’re doing ever. I felt it back then and I feel it now. I gave him the nickname ‘Jakkanna’ – a famous sculptor down south who is known for his immaculate masterpieces. He is a tough taskmaster too, and that’s how Rajamouli sculpts his movies."
Director-screenwriter Rajamouli’s previous films, Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017), were also global box office successes and grossed $370 million combined. The story was about a sibling rivalry set in medieval India simultaneously shot in Telugu and Tamil languages. With RRR, he has beaten his own record. RRR was released on March 25 worldwide in the Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, and Malayalam languages and collected $29.2 million on its opening day. As per reports, RRR has collected approximately USD 88 million worldwide after six days. The film grossed USD 120 million worldwide in 10 days.
Deadline's Stephanie Bunbury called RRR “bigger than Ben-Hur’ and further wrote: "RRR is one action crescendo after another, never dull but not exhausting either."