RRR is a 2022 Indian Telugu-language epic action drama film. It received an Academy Award nomination in the original song category.
Let’s find out more about the movie!
- RRR is a 2022 Indian Telugu-language epic action drama film.
- The film was directed by S. S. Rajamouli.
- He co-wrote the film with V. Vijayendra Prasad.
- It was produced by D. V. V. Danayya of DVV Entertainment.
- The film stars N. T. Rama Rao Jr., Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt, Shriya Saran, Samuthirakani, Ray Stevenson, Alison Doody, and Olivia Morris.
- It centers around two real-life Indian revolutionaries, Alluri Sitarama Raju (Charan) and Komaram Bheem (Rama Rao), their friendship and their fight against the British Raj
- . Set in the 1920s, the film tells an alternate history story exploring the undocumented period in their lives, when both the revolutionaries chose to go into obscurity before they began the fight for their country.
- Rajamouli came across stories about the lives of Rama Raju and Bheem and connected the coincidences between them, imagining what would have happened had they met, and been friends.
- The film was formally announced in March 2018.
- Principal photography of the film began in November 2018 in Hyderabad and continued until August 2021, owing to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- It was filmed extensively across India, with a few sequences filmed in Ukraine and Bulgaria.
- The film’s soundtrack and background score were composed by M. M. Keeravani.
- Made on a budget of ₹550 crore ($72 million), RRR is the most expensive Indian film to date.
- The film was initially scheduled for theatrical release on 30 July 2020, which was postponed multiple times due to production delays and the COVID pandemic.
- RRR was released theatrically on 25 March 2022. With ₹240 crore (US$30 million) worldwide on its first day, RRR recorded the highest opening-day earned by an Indian film.
- It emerged as the highest-grossing film in its home market of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, grossing over ₹415 crore (US$52 million).
- The film grossed ₹1,200–1,258 crore worldwide, setting several box office records for an Indian film, including the third highest-grossing Indian film and second highest-grossing Telugu film worldwide.
- RRR stands for «Rise Roar Revolt».
- Alluri Sita Ramaraju and Komaram Bheem were freedom fighters of India who didn’t meet in real life. This film is completely fictitious and based on an idea of what if those two met.
- This film’s title has different abbreviations in different languages but is commonly called RRR. Roudram Ranam Rudhiram in Telugu, Raththam Ranam Rowthiram in Tamil, Roudra Rana Rudhira in Kannada, Rudhiram Ranam Roudhram in Malayalam (all of which translate to Rage, War, Blood), and Rise Roar Revolt in both Hindi and English.
- S.S. Rajamouli said the film was about an “imaginary friendship between two superheroes”. He later went on to speak about the importance of “unapologetically” showing male friendship on screen.
- RRR became the first Indian film to gross over $100 million worldwide since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Although the film found international success on Netflix, S.S. Rajamouli was angry with Netflix because they took only the Hindi dubbed version, not the original Telugu or the other dubbed versions in Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam languages.
- The title RRR was initially just a working title standing for the director (S.S. Rajamouli) and the two main leads’ (Ram Charan Teja and N.T. Rama Rao Jr.) initials but then the director later decided to make it the official title as it became famed.
- The song “Naatu Naatu” was shot in Ukraine at the Mariinskyi Palace (Ukraine Presidential Palace) in Kyiv, a few months before the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
- N.T. Rama Rao Jr. and Ram Charan Teja both dubbed their lines in Hindi as well as Telugu.
- English filmmaker Edgar Wright praised the film, noting it was the only film he had seen where the intermission card itself got a round of applause.
- British actress Daisy Edgar-Jones, who was cast opposite N.T. Rama Rao Jr. earlier, exited from the film due to family issues.
- The film has an ensemble cast ranging from Hollywood to Bollywood. Olivia Morris and Alia Bhatt make their Telugu film debuts. They are paired with N.T. Rama Rao Jr. and Ram Charan Teja, respectively. This is also the Telugu film debut of Ajay Devgn, who plays a key role.
- Talking about how the Naatu Naatu song was shot, N.T. Rama Rao Jr. revealed it was shot on the last leg of the film. He and Ram Charan Teja were “tortured” for 65 nights, and S.S. Rajamouli stressed more on the synchronization than the steps being complicated.
- This is one of the first films in India to be shot on Arri Alexa LF and with Arri’s Signature Prime Lens.
- The film became the highest grossing Indian film in Japan, overtaking actor Rajinikanth’s Muthu (1995), which held the record for two decades.
- The tickets for the film’s screening at the TCL Chinese IMAX Theatre in Los Angeles as a part of an initiative by Beyond Fest got sold out in 98 seconds. Beyond Fest tweeted and called it a historic moment for an Indian film.
- The National Board of Review considered it to be one of the best films of the year, making it only the second non-English film ever to make it to the list.
- Ram Charan Teja called the action sequence where he fights a mob alone the most suffocating stunt he’d ever done. Every time the shot was finished and the director said “cut,” it took a while for the team to actually spot him because of the dust. A guy was given a white flag just to wave at the assistant director and tell where to pick up Charan from. He claimed he did not receive a single scratch after 30 days.
- During an interview at the Chicago Music Box Theatre, S.S. Rajamouli was asked about whether the film played in England, given its theme. He said it did very well and went on to become the highest-grossing Indian film there.
- When asked about how he approached filming the iconic animal attack scene, S.S. Rajamouli said he won’t be able to get into the logistical complexities, as that’s for the production side to deal with, and that he also won’t be sympathetic to their worries when he’s doing a scene like that.
- When asked if they both could imagine themselves performing the Naatu Naatu song on the Oscars, N.T. Rama Rao Jr. appreciated the idea, but wondered how it would look without suspenders as they definitely would be in their tuxedos, further adding S.S. Rajamouli could do the arrangement, as he’s “good at arranging stuff.” Ram Charan Teja said they both have never done the steps in the hundreds of promotions they’ve done together, but would be more than happy to do it for the Oscars.
- British actress Brittany Ashworth screen tested opposite N.T. Rama Rao Jr. in Hyderabad for the role of Jennifer after Daisy Edgar-Jones exited the project.
- When answering that his reasons to stay ready are based on the fact that he must concentrate on the work and not on its possible results, Alluri Sitarama Raju is basically quoting Shiva in the Bhagavad-Gita.
- Every time they talk about the Naatu Naatu song, N.T. Rama Rao Jr. and Ram Charan Teja think of the visual of how Ukraine was, or how Kyiv was when they were there. Thinking of its present situation hurts them, and they don’t know whether to be happy for seeing Kyiv in its glory, or be sad that it’s not that anymore.
- The film’s aspect ratio was changed to open matte for its streaming release. The theatrical version with the original aspect ratio is available to stream only on BookMyShow Stream in Hindi.
- In October 2021, PVR Cinemas teamed up with the film and re-branded more than 850 of its screens as “PVRRR” until the release and run of the film.
- While talking to S.S. Rajamouli and standing on a platform for the flogging scene, Ram Charan Teja fell down and got injured. There were barbed wires behind him and he smashed his knee on the platform. Similarly, N.T. Rama Rao Jr. was rehearsing and a took a gun which came up to him, tearing his tendons on his right wrist. While that was happening, they overstretched his arm and something went wrong with his nerve and he felt numbness. They were both never hurt on the set while performing the stunts, however.
- According to N.T. Rama Rao Jr., what translated globally was the emotion of the friendship element of the film; the understandings, the individuality, the goals of each character, and how both of them have erased dramatic misunderstandings between them.
- American actress Jessica Chastain praised the film in a tweet where she said that watching it was “such a party”.
- The film was scheduled to be released on 30 July 2020. However, on 5 January 2020, a new release date of 8 January 2021 was announced.
- Talking about how the theme music of Jaws (1975) left him impressed as it involved no orchestration, M.M. Keeravani thanked its composer John Williams for teaching him the lesson of simplicity and humbleness in composing scores for movies, and being his inspiration forever.
- On Late Night with Seth Meyers (2014), S.S. Rajamouli explained how the fans in India normally tear up newspapers all through the night, making huge bags of confetti, taking it to the theatre and throwing it into the air the moment the actor’s name is displayed or the actors come in or they anticipate their favorite star’s entry. One can’t see the picture, and with the fans laughing and shouting loudly, the sound become inaudible; the projector operator, who is not supposed to meddle with the sound, increases the DB of the sound in vain.
- This became the first film to be screened in Jammu and Kashmir after movie theaters, closed in 1990s due to terrorism, reopened in September 2022.
- This is the first Indian film to release in Dolby Cinema format.
- American filmmaker James Cameron met S.S. Rajamouli at the Critics Choice Awards, revealing he watched the film twice; first by himself and second time with his wife. Cameron was impressed with the film, analyzed it with Rajamouli and told him, “If you ever wanna make a movie over here, let’s talk.”
- The film was shot over 320 days.
- Following the film’s success, Google introduced a special animation for the film. If one searches for “RRR” on Google, a horse and a motorbike can be seen moving across the web page. The horse indicates Ram Charan Teja’s character Alluri Sitaram Raju and the motorbike indicates N.T. Rama Rao Jr.’s character Komaram Bheem.
- Speaking on the film not being chosen as India’s official entry to Oscars 2023, S.S. Rajamouli expressed disappointment but also stated he’s not someone who would sit and brood about why it didn’t happen. He further expressed happiness over Last Film Show (2021), the official entry, also being shortlisted for Oscars. He still admitted RRR had a much bigger chance, further stating he didn’t know how the committee (Film Federation of India) functioned.
- Although he is not a fan of 3D conversion, S.S. Rajamouli changed his mind after previewing some shots in 3D as he felt the conversion brought the characters closer to the audiences, and he himself could feel the emotions much more strongly.
- When asked if he was open to working in Hollywood, S.S. Rajamouli stated he was no different from the filmmakers across the world who dreamed to make a film in Hollywood, and was open to experimentation. He revealed that back in India, he is the dictator and no one tells him how to make a film; the unusual amount of creative power he enjoyed in India was causing him a “bit of confusion” about directing in a new landscape like Hollywood.
- Having witnessed viewers crying in Japan, N.T. Rama Rao Jr. felt they expressed their love for the film as audiences, more than what India could.
- Speaking on the Naatu Naatu song getting nominated for Oscars 2023, M.M. Keeravani called it his “son”, who is now driving cars, dancing, and has a girlfriend.
- Actor Ajay Devgn, who portrayed the role of Venkata Rama Raju in the film, revealed he didn’t watch it because while he is satisfied with his work while performing for any film, seeing it later makes him feel he might have done better.
- Two-time Academy award winning music composer A.R. Rahman supported the film in his reaction to its Oscar nomination for best original song and said he wanted it to win the award. He used to think India would start getting nominations ten years back, but it took 12 years, and instead should be happening every year from India because of the abundance of amazing geniuses in every aspect of filmmaking. He further commented that most of the movies don’t enter the competition, and at least the makers of RRR had the thing to put it out there, because no one would vote for a movie they don’t know.
- RRR received universal acclaim for Rajamouli’s direction, writing, performances (particularly Rama Rao and Charan), soundtrack, action sequences, cinematography, editing, and visual effects.
- Among other accolades, RRR became the third Indian film and first Telugu film to receive nominations at the Golden Globe Awards, including Best Foreign Language Film, and won Best Original Song for “Naatu Naatu”.
- It was the first Asian nomination to win the award.
- The song is also competing to win the Best Original Song at the 95th Academy Awards.
- It has also won the Best Foreign Language Film and the Best Song award at the 28th Critics’ Choice Awards.
- The film was considered one of the ten best films of the year by the National Board of Review.
- When Bheem tries to find the solitary cell in which Ram is imprisoned, the beat with which they both communicate is the same one that Ram beats in the beginning of Naatu Naatu song, which is why Ram instantly recognizes it’s Bheem.
- Despite the popular and controversial belief that Ram is dressed as Lord Rama in the third act of the film, it’s actually the classic look of the Indian freedom fighter Alluri Seetha Rama Raju, whom Ram’s character is based on. In the same way, Bheem is also dressed in the classic look of the Indian freedom fighter Komaram Bheem, whom Bheem’s character is based on, in the mid-credit scenes of the film during the “Etthara Jenda” song.
- S.S. Rajamouli, the film’s director, makes an appearance in the song “Etthara Jenda,” the final song of the film that plays during the credits.
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