'RRR', With Ram Charan and NTR Jr, Is Bigger And Better Than 'Baahubali'

Watching the protagonist of an action drama lift a motorcycle and hurl it at his enemy is one of the few extravagant pleasures that I live for. There are many others, but listing them would bore you and also expose my innermost – and vacuous – thoughts. Rajamouli has evolved as a filmmaker tremendously and he knows what the viewers expect from him. In RRR, he walks mostly along the path lit by the genre he places his movie in. And when I say genre, I mean the story. And when I say story, I mean the kernel of an idea around which he builds his world.

All these years, Rajamouli was resting on his abilities as a distracting magician. He followed a particular formula of having songs, comedy routines, romantic subplots, and so on. For his latest multi-starrer, though, he comes up with a new plan. The songs are still there, but they are presented in a refreshing manner and some of them even occupy the movie halls as part of the background score. And as far as the romantic subplots are concerned, they don’t appear to be much of a distraction. This is indeed a great step forward for the health of Telugu cinema (and Indian cinema in general).

RRR puts the spotlight on two historical figures, such as Komaram Bheem and Alluri Sitarama Raju, who are played by NTR Jr. and Ram Charan, respectively, by fictionalizing their journeys.

Rajamouli just borrows certain details like their names and the mountains of anger they dwell in for this tale. It’s kind of amazing, if you think about it, because this is neither a biopic nor a drama that claims to bring the wrongs committed by the British Raj against Indians to the fore. Obviously, Bheem and Rama Raju team up to rebel against the non-desi government, but that happens much later.

The introduction scenes for the two stars are entirely different since their purposes are different. While Rama Raju works for the Raj as a policeman, Bheem is on a mission to rescue a little girl. The latter isn’t interested in bringing the British Empire down initially. All he wants is to find the girl and take her back home. However, it’s not as simple as it looks. How can he, with the help of some tribesmen, attack the mighty British army? It’s not just the numbers that aren’t in his favor, it’s the strategies too.

When Bheem and Rama Raju forge a friendship, they don’t talk about each other’s aims. They merely join hands to roam around Delhi and dance to “Naatu Naatu” in order to show the white folks that they’re also capable of putting their feet to good use on the dance floor. Oh, and not to forget, there are many scenes where the British women and men insult our brethren.

There’s racism at almost every juncture and it made me think of how Rajamouli has treated this subject – he touches upon slavery and casteism to an extent even though he doesn’t address them directly via conversations and confrontations.

Do you remember the scene in the trailer where Bheem faces off against a tiger? He also roars to match the tiger’s vocal agenda. If you’re wondering what the hell it’s about, you should watch it on the largest screen possible. That particular bit with the beast didn’t seem fantastic in the beginning. I thought it was a crumb offered by Rajamouli to make the audience lower their masks and praise NTR Jr. through shouts and incoherent slogans. But I was wrong, as the animal made a comeback and the hair on my neck stood up to register that moment of excitement.

Okay, I may have gone a bit far. Don’t hold me accountable if that doesn’t happen to you. But it’s the sort of scene that only a filmmaker like Rajamouli can pull off. This is what RRR is about essentially – the action set pieces, the many paths that people pick to reach a destination, and the strange noises that expensive bullets and pointy arrows make when they hit their targets. Somewhere along the way, you get a couple of lines on the importance of freedom, as well.

And, if you can, remind me why Ajay Devgn and Alia Bhatt were roped in, please. I get that the makers wanted to cast some Bollywood actors to market their movie with familiar faces in the Northern territories, but these stars feel like fish out of water here. Their inability to fit into the cultures that are not their own clearly shows in their performances. I’m of the opinion that Olivia Morris, who portrays Jenny, does a better job as she doesn’t come with any baggage. Ah, should I forgive the casting choices?

RRR may not make as much money at the box office as Baahubali 2, but it’s definitely bigger and tastier. And all the credit – or the most of it at least – should go to Rajamouli for bringing out the best in NTR Jr. He’s an actor who doesn’t hesitate to fall apart, or put himself back together, in a fraction of a second and that’s a sharp skill only a few actors can wear on their shoulders.