RRR

On the cusp of India’s fight for independence from the British Raj, two men find themselves playing pivotal roles. One of them is Komaram Bheem (played here by NT Rama Rao Jr, aka Jr NTR), a Gond man using the pseudonym Akhtar as he wanders through Delhi searching for a girl who has been stolen from his village by British aristocrats. The other is Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan), a lieutenant in the local regiment commanded by the British Army. The former is associated with the element of water, the second with the element of fire. They seem like natural enemies, but Indians who know this story will realise that something else is going on, and the tantalising prospect of what might happen if they worked together helps to drive the narrative forwards. An early scene is which they join forces to rescue a child from a burning river helps to set the stage.

It is established early on that both men are capable of near-superhuman feats. Following a command, Raju, who is desperate to climb the ranks, dives into a crowd of furious protestors and fights all comers in order to retrieve a single stone-thrower. Not to be outdone, Bheem, running through the forest, fights a wolf and a tiger at the same time. As Bheem’s reputation grows and the British start to think that this rebel might represent a real threat, Raju steps up like Quint in Jaws and announces that only way they’re going to get the job done properly is to hire him. Yet as he grows suspicious of Bheem, befriending him to pursue his mission, Bheem sets out to win the favour of kind hearted Englishwoman Jenny (Olivia Morris), whom he hopes will lead him to the missing child. Inevitably, Bheem and Jenny fall for one another, whilst Bheem and Raju develop a genuine bond which entangles their destinies in spite of everything.

Though it runs to over three hours in length (with an ‘intRRRmission’ for those who can’t sit still that long), this full blooded epic rarely seems to pause the breath, constantly upping the stakes in terms of geopolitical drama, emotion and action. It’s also well seasoned with comedy, some of which relies on the audience being familiar with Bollywood conventions, but which is overall very accessible. It will go down particularly well in countries which have had their own historic dealings with the British (or the ‘English Empire’ as it is described here in what may be another kind of political comment). Bheem and Raju are from very different backgrounds, and their differences provide an ongoing source of humour. Raju dedicates himself to reading books. Beheem, illiterate, sneaks off to drop some meat into a basement where he seems to be keeping totally hidden tigers. His courtship of Jenny is hampered by their lack of a shared language, so when she invites him to a party, he switches instead into the language of dance. The result, Naatu Naatu, is a hot favourite in this year’s awards race, and though they make a bold effort to keep up, the inescapably prim English get well and truly served.

The second half of the film takes a different direction, veering away from comedy as it raises the stakes. We come to understand more about Raju’s background, explaining his odd choices, and his own love story, with childhood sweetheart Seetha (Alia Bhatt), is more substantially developed. The rather cartoonish depiction of the English in the first half gives way to much more explicit brutality, and the class differences amongst them become apparent as we hear more than just RP accents. Here lie the seeds of the rebellion which will stire feelings of excitement and pride in most Indian viewers, and in anyone inclined to root for the underdog. There are still plenty of amazing action set pieces. Although the special effects are not always seamless, the ambition behind them is tremendous, and they’re still thrilling to watch. Hollywood’s most spectacular efforts begin to look like a British kitchen sink drama by comparison.

If you like going to the cinema so that you can find yourself swept away emotionally, clinging to the edge of your seat and gasping for breath, RRR will not let you down. This is old school cinema made with state of the art technology and a surfeit of imagination. It’s big, it’s colourful, it deals with the fates of whole civilisations and yet there are moments when two individuals gazing into each other’s eyes is all that matters. It’s frequently ridiculous but it doesn’t care. It’s a wild card in this year’s awards race, and they don’t get much wilder. See it on the biggest screen you can.