RRR - Redcoats, Rifles, Rajamouli

RRR

Telugu, 2022

Director - S S Rajamouli

Stars - NTR Jr., Ram Charan, Ray Stevenson, Olivia Morris, Alia Bhatt, Ajay Devgn, Samuthirakani

Mohan's Measure ⭐⭐

The success of Mr. Rajamouli's Bahubali is driven by its mythology, hearkening to ideas found in our Itihāsas and Purānas. The action, magic, and battle sequences touch something in our soul just as much as they entertain. How I wish he stayed with the genre, rather than offering us this ridiculous invention he calls RRR. 

A historic fiction, it rests on the meeting of two real revolutionaries and how they compete, inspire, and eventually support each other in fighting the Brits. The fact that it did not really happen lends to the opinion some have that the movie dilutes their fame.

As with Rajamouli's other movies, the fabulous sets, the background scores, and the David Lean-like screen filled with action are a delight to the eyes. But, where are the parts which touch the soul?

The movie reduces itself to the formulaic. The expected strong women of the director's other films are replaced with beautiful but weak cheerleaders who always appear on the screen for a time not much longer than the closing credits. Albeit, the men are too preoccupied admiring each other and themselves to give the ladies the onscreen them the attention they deserve. Where is Sivagami when you need her?

Like Bahubali, we have a host of seasoned stars to instruct and support the two heroes. But, careful not to blink at the wrong time, lest you miss them on screen.

There are moments, after two plus hours where Rajamouli realizes the error of his ways and brings myth and god-like demeanor to the two main characters. But, the scenes are so choppy and filled with holes, they feel amateur. What's more, by the time that happens, our search for the perennial philosophy is clouded by the search for a Tylenol.