3 Years on, This RRR Action Scene Remains as Thrilling as Ever

It’s been three years since the release of S.S. Rajamouli’s RRRthe Telugu-language epic historical fantasy starring Jr. NTR and Ram Charan that swept the globe. Based on an idea from Rajamouli’s father, the film was a bonkers re-imagining of Indian revolutionaries Komaram Bheem and Alluri Sitarama Raju taking on English colonizers led by Governor Scott Buxton (played brilliantly by the late Ray Stevenson).

The three hour-plus cinematic event was an exciting blend of genres: action-adventure, old Hollywood musicalromantic comedy, buddy comedy, animal rampage, and fantasy. Thankfully there was an intermission to recover from its rollercoaster first half and to help you brace yourself for the second half of non-stop action.

It was a wild ride so audacious it worked, opening with the kidnapping of a young girl from a village to be an ornament in the colonizer’s estate. Unlucky for the rich governor, the village’s warrior Bheem (Jr. NTR) is a one-man search and rescue team whose particular set of skills include being a wild animal whisperer. The build-up to seeing these skills in action is framed as more of an infiltration to get in close with the enemy and their guards; it also involves Bheem finding himself in a meet-cute with a nice English lady.

Superstardom is still huge in India and Jr. NTR is one of its biggest talents, as is his co-star Ram Charan. RRR crossed over two major movie star fandoms in roles that gave each actor equal amounts of epic screen time; we could talk about so many standout scenes among the ones they shared. My personal favorite is the “Naatu naatu” musical number which is like Bridgerton‘s Diamond Ball on steroids, though not exactly genre despite the dancing being almost superhuman.

But the moment that changes everything in the film as far as genre-hopping goes is when Bheem attempts to rescue the girl in the most unbelievable way ever committed to the screen. It’s something that’s teased in the trailer, which depicts the moment Bheem is running through the jungle and squares off with a tiger—it’s what got me to want to see the movie off a recommendation from my childhood film bestie. The pay-off from that moment in the first act, to the reason why it happens, is incredible.

Here’s the opening to that moment which I hope will get you to watch RRR on Netflix (watch the Telegu version with English subtitles):

Yes, in order to save the little girl he rolls up with a damn zoo army to take on the guards and cause a big enough distraction. You can’t look away and at that point are so invested you can’t help but root for Bheem, who then gets a huge shock about just who they have ready for him to face off against. Spoiler alert: it’s his new best friend Ram, who is revealed to have been an Imperial Officer all along. It’s heartbreaking and badass at the same time as they fight so hard you can’t pick whose side to be on. It makes Captain America: Civil War look like paint drying. But it’s the moment the animals escape the truck and start ripping into the rich where even CG animals look good and work better here than in Mufasa.

RRR serves as a reminder that while Western cinema often plays it too safe, film is thriving worldwide with creators like Rajamouli who advance the art. It may have released three years, and talk of a sequel is still just making rounds in the rumor mill, but there has yet to be anything like it.

In a summer where we have a Jurassic World film opening, it’s a shame it’s not being headlined by the likes of Jr. NTR or Ram Charan, who we’d like to see command dinos too—but they are too famous worldwide to be locked down by Hollywood as mere side players. And you know what? Good for them. Maybe at least someday we’ll get Rajamouli to do a Star Wars project, but only if Lucasfilm lets him do his signature genre-mashing blockbuster spectacle. One can only dream. Until then, we’ll just pop on RRR to see real cinema still lives, at least in Tollywood.

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