RRR Movie Review: A Riot of Epic Action & Emotion

Rajamouli opens with an impossibly ambitious gambit: Komaram Bheem (N.T. Rama Rao Jr.), a Gond tribal leader from the forests of Telangana, arrives in 1920s Delhi with one mission-rescue a young tribal girl abducted by the cruel British Governor Scott Buxton (Ray Stevenson) and his ice-queen wife, Cassandra (Alison Doody). Meanwhile, Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan), a brilliant but conflicted officer of the British Indian Police, is tasked with capturing Bheem.

The two men meet by chance in a rain-soaked, village-set action sequence where they rescue a child from a burning train-a scene so choreographed, so absurdly balletic, that it becomes the film’s first major emotional anchor. They bond over shared hunger, a love of mutton biryani, and a devastatingly well-timed duet of “Naatu Naatu.” But their brotherhood is built on a lie: Raju is hunting Bheem, and Bheem doesn’t know it. When the truth detonates, the film erupts into a second half that pits loyalty against duty, all leading to a warzone finale that turns a colonial garrison into a slaughterhouse of righteous fury.

---

Let’s cut through the noise: RRR is Ram Charan and N.T.R. Jr.’s film, and they own every frame. N.T.R. Jr. brings a volcanic, almost feral physicality to Bheem-his eyes glint with rage in jungle skirmishes, and his dance moves in “Naatu Naatu” possess a rubber-limbed joy that makes you forget he’s also capable of cracking skulls with bare hands. Ram Charan’s Raju is the flipside: coiled, calculating, a master of disguise whose suave exterior hides a grief that curdles into something like superhuman precision. Their chemistry-rivalry, friendship, betrayal, reunion-grounds the madness. When Raju finally reveals his true allegiance, the camera holds on his face long enough for you to feel the betrayal like a knife.

Rajamouli directs with the rhythmic confidence of a maestro conducting a symphony of explosions. He has a knack for staging action that feels both ludicrous and legible: a motorcycle chase through a burning forest, a single-shot hallway brawl that channels Oldboy through a Telugu lens, and a final confrontation where Raju uses a bow-and-arrow with his feet. The special effects are occasionally wobbly-a CG deer looks like it escaped a PlayStation 2 cutscene-but the sheer velocity and invention wash away most complaints.

The British villains, Ray Stevenson and Alison Doody, are cartoonishly one-dimensional-they sneer, drink tea, and oppress. That’s by design. This isn’t a nuanced colonial critique; it’s a revenge fantasy where the colonizers are pure evil, and the heroes are demigods. The politics are blunt, almost simplistic, but the emotional payload hits hard. When Bheem roars at a crowd of oppressed Indians to rise, you feel the hair on your arms stand up.

The runtime (187 minutes) is a test of endurance. The first hour luxuriates in setup and character flourishes, and the interval block arrives breathlessly. But the second half drags slightly in the middle-a brief flashback to Raju’s childhood slows the tempo-before launching into a finale that feels like a dozen climaxes compressed into forty minutes. Editing could have trimmed ten minutes, but Rajamouli’s ability to sustain that intensity is something few modern filmmakers possess.

---

Pros

• Career-defining performances from Ram Charan and N.T. Rama Rao Jr., with electric chemistry and physical commitment.
• “Naatu Naatu” is a sequence so joyful, so perfectly choreographed, that it alone justifies the price of admission.
• Action set-pieces that defy physics and logic with breathtaking creativity-the train rescue, the protest riot, the final siege.
• Rajamouli’s direction: every frame is dense with detail, color, and purposeful movement.
• The score (M. M. Keeravani) is a character in itself, thrumming, swelling, and pounding with percussive force.

Cons

• Length: at 187 minutes, the mid-section loses some narrative momentum, especially in the flashback.
• Occasional VFX inconsistencies-digital animals and crowd shots wobble in quality.
• British characters are paper-thin villains; nuance is absent in favor of pantomime evil.
• The third act’s logic-rattling climax might frustrate viewers allergic to superhero physics.

---

RRR is not a movie you watch-it’s a movie you survive. S. S. Rajamouli has crafted a piece of pure, unadulterated folk epic, where men wrestle lions and women hurl fire, and every floor is a dance stage. It’s loud, long, and occasionally ridiculous, but it’s also the most thrilling, uncynical entertainment of the decade. The TMDb rating of 7.7 feels modest for a film this committed to its own madness. Whether you are a Telugu cinema veteran or a newcomer, RRR demands to be seen in the loudest theater you can find, with a crowd ready to cheer.

Recommendation: Essential viewing for anyone who believes cinema should be bigger than life. A full-blown masterpiece of genre filmmaking.