'RRR' Movie Review: Manmohan Jesa-hi!

RRRDirector SS RajamouliCast NTR Jr Ram CharanRating 35If the great Manmohan Desai 193794 could tinker with the sort of technology that bigbudget cinema is currently capable of I think he wouldrsquove visualised RRRA leap of faith so over the top of anything yoursquoll imagine for a period movie that the only reason audiences feel safe all through is knowing that they or the film wonrsquot fall after all Such is their conviction It directly flows from the directorrsquos own He knows what hersquos doingThe SS in SS Rajamouli stand for specialeffects and stylised sets including propsmdashdesigned by Sabu Cyril with such love and care that it deserves to be preserved for posteritytourism The way you can visit Jodhaa Akbarrsquos set at Karjatrsquos ND Studio still or in fact Baahubalirsquos partly left intact in Hyderabadrsquos Ramoji Rao StudioA film of this sort primarily hinges on what are called lsquomoney shotsrsquo Or what in Manmohan Desairsquos time were termed a picturersquos ldquohighlightsrdquo The crackling ones are obviously the openingintro scenes of the two heavyweight leads in the film NTR Jr and Ram CharanRam Charan plays a cop in the mighty British Empire who throws himself into a massive crowd of sardars protesting the arrest of Lala Lajpat Rai He runs through the lsquobhasadrsquo like a beast possessed in a display of ginormous heroism taming hundreds of protestors to pulp all by himself NTR Jr is wilder still Having grown up in the forests in the film To establish that is a chase sequences between the hero a brown hyena and a roaring fat kinetic tigermdashwith the camera zooming in on NTR Jrrsquos calf muscles veins popping from above his wrist The effect is glorious especially the tiger portionsmdashsomething that 3D as with Life of Pi 2012 could enhance even furtherThere is also the third lsquomoney shotrsquo among others where both NTR Jr and Charan kinda faceoff for the first time And this is to save a child drowning in the sea under a bridge from where a train has collapsed One hero in a horse the other in a motorbikemdashboth charging into the water below from the bridge above with ropes they swing on eventuallyThis is just to answer the essential question about lsquopaisa vasoolrsquo often posed for pictures of this sort Yes it is your moneyrsquos worthmdasheven more so for extra free AC in the hall The movie lasts over three hours The show in my theatre began around 930 pm By the time it was over and I was texting my friendmdashldquoMad Fun only Too loohellipngrdquomdashit was way past 1 am technically morning and I was still waiting for cabYup this is a long roar And you donrsquot mind extending a long rope Also this is how Hindi pictures were watched back in the rsquo70s rsquo80s rsquo90s Popculture is quite cyclical that waymdashnothing ever goes away really While thatrsquos truest for fashion music applies to mainstream films too you can senseJust that if you told me merely a decade ago that hardcore Bollywood audiences across the country from Delhi to Bombay Pune to Purnea would round their lips to whistle and queue up for a fullon Telugu blockbuster starring NT Rama Raorsquos grandson and Megastar Chiranjeevirsquos son for leadsmdashwith Ajay Devgn Alia Bhatt brought in as extras for lsquodiversity quotarsquomdashIrsquom pretty sure Irsquod go GrrrSuch has been the Rajamouli or rather the Baahubali or indeed the RRR effect if you may Observed likewise with Pushpa the Allu Arjun panIndia superhit A tipping point of sorts for how hardcore quality desi tentpole entertainment no matter from where has the unique tendency to unite this nation outdoors In a way that only sports has so farThis shouldnrsquot be so surprising either For the underlying emotions in a fable are usually universal isnrsquot it In the sense of a story of two brothers from another mother Where both men are revolutionaries in their own waymdashRaju Charan Bheem NTR Jr Only that despite turning into best buddies Bheem doesnrsquot once figure that Raju is in fact a cop further still looking for him Who caresLook at it like Sholaymdashtherersquos the song in the closing credits dedicated to it See it as Ramayan if you likemdashwith Bheem the Hanuman from the forests whorsquos in Delhi to communicate with and rescue a girl trapped in Lanka Why this little girl has been kidnapped from the forests in the first place is unclear tome Go further down Ramayan and Raju in fact turns into Lord Ram himself literally with a bow and arrow This is the signature style of story writer KV Vijayendra Prasad 80 also behind Baahubali 2015 17 Bajrangi Bhaijaan 2015 Manikarnika 2019Sure you can see Ram Lakshman Sita thatrsquos Aliarsquos character Whorsquos the Raavan though The British of course Like in Manmohan Desairsquos madcap Mard 1985mdasha series of serious jerks for replaceable growling white men who ldquomustnrsquot treat Indians like animalsrdquo which is actually an affront to animalsThe imperial women are somewhat better humans though not all One of them is deeply upset that while Bheem is getting lashed in public hersquos not dripping blood ldquoThere is no bloodrdquo she yells ldquoYoursquore quite vicious my dearrdquo says her equally grotesque Caucasian husband Wersquore happy to unite against a common Indian enemyRRR should have been the big Republic Day or Independence Day releasemdashespecially the latter given that we are commemorating 75 years of freedom from the British no Not a war against Pakistan as most Hindi films on such occasions celebrate