Director : S.S. Rajamouli
Writer : Vijayendra Prasad (story), S.S. Rajamouli (screenplay)
Dialogue Writer : Sai Madhav Burra, Madhan Karky, Riya Mukherjee
Cast : N.T. Rama Rao Jr., Ram Charan Teja, Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt, Olivia Morris, Shriya Saran, Ray Stevenson, Alison Doody, Samuthirakani, Edward Sonnenblick, Twinkle Sharma
Cinematographer : KK Senthil Kumar
Editor : A. Sreekar Prasad
Production Designer : Sabu Cyril
Music : M.M. Keeravani
Sound Designer : Raghunath Kemisetty
Language : Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada
A Disastrous headache inducing Spectacle
Saw RRR (Rise Roar Revolt) in the theater last day last show kyun ki apna to bas yahi style hai. First day first show is too mainstream, last day last show dekhne ke liye ek alag he swag chahiye wo bhi jab film ka din mein ek he show ho aur next day se film theaters se nikalne wali ho. Last day last show ka alag he maza hai.
Coming to the film, after the hugely successful Baahubali films, if the director can make this, that too with twice the budget of Baahubali then it is nothing less than a crime. By the end of the film, you are left with nothing but a headache. I mean banana kya chahate ho? I am still trying to make sense out of it. How much action can one tolerate without a good story in place? The film is something and nothing at the same time.
Disappointing to say the least. Very underwhelming experience. Dono Baahubali films ke baad agar ye dekhne ko mil raha hai to kisiko bhi ronaa aa jaega. Fairly entertaining.
This seems like director S.S. Rajamouli’s net practice where the focus is too much on the spectacle, on the magnanimity of the scale on which a sequence is mounted. How big a sequence can be shot irrespective of it making any sense. It is more like an indulgence for the director. Doing everything according to his own whims and fancies. I wish all of this could compensate for the weak writing. Sadly, it doesn’t and what you get is a film that is not even a proper commercial entertainer. The director focuses so much on the execution that everything else takes a backseat including the screenplay and the performances. Somewhere there is a mismatch in the way the director anticipated and envisioned the sequences to work with the audience versus the actual impact of the sequences. The actual impact is very lukewarm. None of it is clap worthy or whistle worthy because they just come out of nowhere without any context. Not really a paisa vasool experience. Still Rajamouli Sir’s visual storytelling is fabulous. He partly succeeds in creating a larger than life world. The concept of one hero representing fire and the other water has been executed exceptionally well. It could’ve been more interesting. Rajamouli Sir actually inspires me as a Director. If not doing Acting full-time I can at least make cameos like him in my own film. Legends like Stan Lee have made cameos so iconic with their presence.
Overly stretched, elaborate sequences making no sense at all. Iske chakkar mein the essence of the film is lost and it fails to make any impact. Even if it does make any impact, it is only in parts. I didn’t feel anything, neither was I rooting for anyone nor did I sympathise with any of the characters. The first half was still good. The second half was bad. In the first half I was still rooting for Bheem and wanting the little girl to be rescued. The bromance and the romance works wonderfully. The pre-interval action sequence is where you actually sit up and take notice when Bheem enters with all the animals, Ram’s entry and the fight between them that follows. It is a terrific interval block. Bheem and Malli’s relationship is the highlight. It is one of the most emotionally charged part where you feel for both of them. Emotions wise the first half works. The second half is flat. The emotional connect is lost. In the first half also it takes time for you to settle after a patchy start and get involved in the film. The second half again breaks it. It feels very long and tedious.
Visually apart from the set of the British establishment in Delhi everything else is not so interesting to watch. How much of the forest can you watch? The massive and elaborate set of the British Empire looks beautiful. It is a treat to watch right from the interiors to the exterior. It has the wow factor. The amount of detailing that has gone into it, all credit goes to the production designer and the director for doing such a commendable job. One particular place where I was totally amazed looking at the magnificence of the set is the scene where Jennifer takes Bheem to her house for coffee. It has the royal look and feel which is very eye pleasing especially the interiors. The production design of the film is superb. I even liked the costumes. Both the heroes look very classy and stylish in the suits that they are wearing before the Naacho Naacho song. Even the dresses worn by Jennifer are beautifully designed. The costume design is too good.
Everything is very over the top and over exaggerated. The lengthy over the top action sequences prove to be a hindrance in the storytelling, in conveying the emotions and the drama, in character development especially when the story is not moving forward. That is what leads to the lack of engagement. This happens partly in the first half and mostly in the second half.
The film is very unconvincing and unbelievable. The moments look created and manipulative. They do not lend themselves organically to the narrative. You already anticipate what is going to happen. It lacks the conviction or rather there is too much of conviction and overconfidence. Story is just a by-product to this pretentious spectacle. It just feels plain boring yaar as it fails to pick up any pace especially in the second half. Too many creative liberties have been taken, every logic tossed into the bin. Unnecessary mythological references and that too in a so called historical. It is not even a proper historical since it is the director’s fictional version of history similar to the entire Mahishmati, Baahubali saga. An amalgamation of history and mythology looks so illogical but then you remember that you are in Sir Rajamouli’s history class where anything can happen as per the teacher’s wish. I won’t be surprised if tomorrow he includes sci fi with history.
The writing is very convenient, lazy, illogical and predictable. Apart from the two one dimensional, typical heroes none of the other characters are developed properly. They are not even heroes; they are super humans. Making two real life human freedom fighters into super human characters looks fake and pretentious. It takes away the believability especially in the kind of world the film is set in whereas it works brilliantly in KGF 2 kind of world. Also, the heroes have a superpower of magically healing themselves before the next fight sequence irrespective of how badly they have been beaten up which looks even more unconvincing. If they are nowhere close to reality then why use their real names? It is as good as creating completely fictional characters. The character of Bheem is better written. It manages to strike a chord with the audience. Even I liked Bheem more. The antagonist or rather antagonists are also not properly developed. When there are two super human heroes how can there not be a powerful antagonist? The absence of a memorable antagonist makes the hero vs villain conflict lose its impact. The hero vs hero conflict in the first half is still palpable because both of them are portrayed to be equally strong. In the second half the heroes vs the villains, the obvious clichéd cardboard Britishers, is a pretty one-sided conflict. Even if the Britishers are the villains they can still be developed into strong and powerful villains. When the villain is stronger than the hero only then the hero vs villain conflict becomes interesting otherwise it falls flat on its face. How much heroism can you watch? The heroism of the heroes tends to get very repetitive with an obvious and predictable victory of the good over evil conclusion.
The screenplay is directionless. It is a mix up of too many themes which do not come across as properly developed. It is as if the writer was confused about which direction he wanted to take the screenplay and what themes to include. So he ended up mixing and matching all the themes. In the process he doesn’t do justice to any of the themes. I think the intention was to give a complete wholesome package to the audience, so that every type of audience resonates with something or the other. It just makes the screenplay lengthy and boring.
It is pretty obvious of the two heroes coming together in the second half. There is hardly any suspense left as it is already disclosed in the trailer itself. It would’ve worked better if it was not revealed. The trailer plays a spoilsport. It gives away a lot of the story and key action sequences. It could’ve been better edited. As an audience, I would prefer a film to surprise me.
The idea itself is questionable. Were the Britishers so dumb to pick up a little tribal girl that they fancied from a forest and to cage her after taking her with them? Didn’t the British woman have any other work? Were they really so evil? Both the heroes have their individual goals and both of them help each other fulfil their goals and the film ends. What I feel is there should’ve been a larger goal that they are collectively working towards that would’ve made it more interesting. Maybe that has been kept for RRR 2. It is pretty evident the screenplay was written keeping the two superstars in mind. To justify the image of the superstars and to give them equal screen time the screenplay becomes too lengthy. It starts right from the tediously long introductions of both the heroes. A lot of editing was required on the scripting level itself. Instead of the heroes, the content, the story should have been given more importance.
There are some poorly developed scenes which just doesn’t connect with the audience. I would’ve loved if Ram’s story of childhood, his relationship with his father was developed properly. It would’ve made the audience sympathise and feel for Ram. A well developed father-son relationship always works. The idea of bringing in mythological references sounds good but taking it too far makes it boring. In the climax, the hero becoming Lord Ram makes an impact in the first instance. When it continues for too long then it becomes very uninteresting. It becomes a bit of an over exaggeration because he continues the Lord Ram look right till the end where everything is coming to a conclusion which doesn’t make it look very impactful. I understand the thought behind it but it doesn’t work. With all the Ram and Sita references it is tempting to go overboard and the same thing happens here. It is overdone. Similarly, the idea of a fight sequence with one hero on top of the other sounds good but when it is taken too far it loses steam, the way it elevates it becomes very hard to believe. It becomes gimmicky and cartoonish.
Talking of the length, the duration of the film is too long. The film could be better edited. It could’ve been crisper and tighter. The action needed to be edited better. The cinematography is good. The VFX is superb. It is done really well. The sound design is fantastic. The background music is very good. The sound mixing of the action sequence in the climax could’ve been better. The level of background music is way too high. It gets too much to bear for the ears especially when the sequence is so lengthy and the background music is playing throughout without providing any breather. There is no respite for the eyes as well as ears. A more balanced mix would’ve worked. It wouldn’t have affected the impact of the climax. The songs are too good. The film begins on very promising note with a wonderful musical piece that sets the stage effectively for the story to unveil.
The song and dance sequences are very good. The dance choreography is fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed the Naacho Naacho song. It has to be one of the greatest two hero songs to be picturised. Both the heroes have nailed it. Right from the catchy steps to the beats it has everything to make you get up from your seat and dance.
The action is average. The action sequences are so lengthy that the other dramatic elements are compromised which you want to watch more of. Even with the performances you don’t get to see much of it because most of it is action. The scenes which actually required to be given time are just quickly cut as if the main focus was action. Can’t say if it was written that way or it was done on the edit table to keep time for the action. Whatever it is, it doesn’t really work. The action also feels repetitive because of its length, especially the climax action sequence. The climax is too much to tolerate. Two heroes randomly beating up an army of the British police force, with the background music at its peak you just zone out after this tediously long action sequence. This is the point where you get a headache. How much can you watch random police officers being beaten to pulp? On top of that the heroes kill Scott so easily taking chance one by one that he doesn’t even seem like an antagonist. After that you don’t really bother what happens in the film. The winding up is done quickly which again feels that it is rushed into. It takes away the importance of whatever the heroes have done to achieve their goals. It is very casually concluded with a song. It would’ve worked better if the song was edited. Including a part of the concluding scenes in the song takes away the seriousness of what you have just watched which dilutes the impact. Also, the action is over the top and illogical. Bheem is lifting up a bike like a toy and swinging it around to beat up the British police and then throwing it on one of the officers. It looks very unbelievable and has no impact at all on the story.
The performances are average. Apart from a few good ones the rest are average. Jr. NTR shines as Bheem. He literally brings the character alive. I really liked watching him. He portrays a range of emotions so convincingly. You just connect with his character. His character feels real. I found myself rooting for him. You want him to win. He is like a saving grace for the film. Out of the two heroes my pick would be Bheem. Ram Charan as Ram is ok. With his limited expressions he just manages to pull it off. Most of the time he looks clueless. His character doesn’t really connect. Neither do you feel anything for him nor are you rooting for him. Twinkle Sharma as Malli makes an impact with her performance. Her portrayal of emotions is impressive. Olivia Morris as Jennifer is very good. She looks beautiful and shares a nice chemistry with Bheem. None of the other actors cast as the British make any impact. Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt and Shriya Saran in the limited scope of their characters put up a fair performance in their small roles. In a way they are wasted. Their casting doesn’t make sense. As per the length of their roles any actors would’ve worked. The casting of Hindi film industry stars wasn’t required. They could’ve taken actors from the Telugu industry itself.
I am not going to say whether to watch it in theaters or not because I have myself watched it last day last show. Majority of my readers have already watched it before me. Probably more than once. For the people who are yet to watch it on OTT, it is a one-time watch. Other than that, keep rocking, keep rolling.
About The Author
Aaditya Bagwe
Aaditya Bagwe is a filmmaker, writer, director, producer and actor. The founder of Infinite Eight Filmverse. He has been writing about films since 2015. A film school graduate in BSC in Film and Television Production with specialization in Direction. A diploma holder in Acting. He has done a short course in Film Appreciation conducted by FTII. Formerly having worked with Pop Diaries as a film review writer. He brings to you his multiverse of writings about films, web series and the entire cinematic universe.
