Eight reasons to catch ‘RRR’ in theaters this weekend
Director S.S. Rajamouli’s smash-hit Indian film “RRR” is returning to the big screen this weekend under the banner of the “RRR” Fan CelebRRRation, and some, who made the poor life choice of not seeing it yet, might be wondering what all the fuss is about. After all, this film opened in theaters almost a year ago, raked in nearly $100 million globally in its first week of release and got snatched up almost immediately by Netflix. So why bother rummaging through the closet to find clothes to go see it in a theater?
Well, here are eight reasons:
1. If it were any crazier, you’d have to watch it in a straitjacket: “RRR,” the shorthand title for “Rise! Roar! Revolt!,” is the year’s loopiest Oscar nominee — and this is a year in which Brendan Gleeson, spoiler alert, hacks off his fingers in “The Banshees of Inisherin” and a raccoon serenades a chef in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” But the kinetic anarchy of “RRR,” a film that demolishes the walls between action, musical, fantasy and historical drama, and makes Baz Luhrmann look like a minimalist, takes it to another level. And that craziness deserves to be seen in all its wide-screen glory. As writer Siddhant Adlakha wrote in Vulture, “Few films demand house-full theatrical viewing as much as ‘RRR.’ ”
2. Even the trailer sent audiences into a frenzy: Long before Americans had the chance to glimpse “RRR,” videos of the delirious reaction of Indian audiences to a theatrical showing of the trailer — in which crowds exploded with the kind of excitement usually reserved for World Series wins and BTS concerts — went viral, helping make “RRR” a global, word-ofmouth sensation.
3. Larger than life: Free of irony and sarcasm, unashamedly sentimental and absolutely reveling in its over-the-top, obviously CGI effects, “RRR” is a big, sweeping epic that has a very different feel from its Hollywood contemporaries. Who needs realism when you can have a man juggling a motorcycle?
4. Bros before foes: On the surface, “RRR,” set in 1920s India and based extremely loosely on the struggles of real-life Telugu revolutionaries Komaram Bheem and Alluri Sitarama Raju against the yoke of British rule, sounds like a dry, colonial history lesson. But this story of two men (played with a charismatic abandon by N.T. Rama Rao Jr. and Ram Charan Teja), who were once at odds and then found common cause, never lapses into tedium, despite its 187-minute running time. Instead, it’s the ultimate bromantic buddy movie — one with lunging tigers and an absolutely explosive dance scene with Rao and Teja. Which brings us to…
5. “Naatu, Naatu”: This infectious track has an Oscar nomination for original song and won this honor at the Golden Globes. Set to a wild, nearly five-minute blast of killer choreography, it has been the spark for almost as much audience participation as a “Rocky Horror” screening on Halloween. A sold-out showing at the famous Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, hosted by J.J. Abrams, turned into a dance party.
6. Tollywood, not Bollywood: There is a tendency in the West to toss all movies from India under the Bollywood banner. But Bollywood refers to the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai, while the films of Tollywood, of which “RRR” is the most famous example, are in the Telugu language of southern India. Some observers of Indian cinema have said that Tollywood may replace Bollywood as the country’s most famous cinematic export. And “RRR” is a great introduction to what Tollywood has to offer.
7. What’s a few subtitles between friends?: Along with the South Korean bestpicture winner “Parasite” from 2019, “RRR” is helping blow up the common wisdom that a mass multiplex audience won’t sit still through movies with subtitles. “RRR” now is opening the door for other Indian films to achieve some sort of crossover, like the recent Hindi-language hit “Pathaan,” of which the Toronto Globe and Mail said, “Move over, ‘RRR,’ Bollywood and Shah Rukh Khan are back with jaw-dropping action epic ‘Pathaan.’ ”
8. ‘RRR’ Two: Electric Boogaloo: Rajamouli has announced a sequel, and you want to have your dance moves ready.