RRR (Rise, Roar, Revolt) is an Indian film that was released on March 24th after many many years of hard work and later postponement due to COVID. I watched this film in theaters on March 25th and I have to say, it was one of the best movies I have seen and it has got me thinking for the past week about the various themes embedded in the movie and what they really mean to me. This movie has really moved me and has taken me on an emotional rollercoaster as I was watching it.
Before going into my perception of the movie and the themes I found that stood out to me, I wanted to applaud and thank the full team for this phenomenal movie that shook the Indian cinema industry over the past week. Huge applause and thank you to the director: SS Rajamouli; the lead actors: Ram Charan, Jr. NTR, Alia Bhatt, and Ajay Devgan; the music director: M.M. Keeravani; and the rest of the team that was involved in the filming, editing, and production of the movie. Every frame, every shot, and every step was planned out to the most detail and the storyline of the movie flowed fabulously. Every emotion was portrayed amazingly and the entire movie definitely kept me at the edge of my seat! The songs were exceptional from all ranges of emotions and I couldn’t stop listening to them ever since I watched this movie. The movie gives a whole different feel to each of the songs, and even though I knew all the songs before, they felt brand new to me after watching the movie. What I loved about this movie was the way the songs were woven into the plot of the movie, adding significance to the sequences and progressing the story, rather than just adding random dance numbers throughout the movie. Additionally, the way the film represented various aspects/concepts of Indian Mythology gave the movie a nice, cultural touch to it.
The movie is based on two real characters (Komaram Bheem and Alluru Sitarama Raju) who were Indian freedom fighters and were from around the same time period. They both left their homes to fulfill their dreams of freedom fighting at around the same time but nobody knows what either of them did or where they went after they left. SS Rajamouli, the director of the movie, created a fictional story around the idea of what could have happened if they did meet. Although the two characters were real people from Indian history, the story is completely fictional. The main storyline is about the friendship of these two characters, how they met, how they evolved, and how they achieved their dreams.
IF YOU HAVENT WATCHED THE MOVIE, PLEASE DON’T READ BEYOND THIS POINT!! From here on out, I will be talking about my reflection on the movie, themes that I found, and my favorite scenes which I do not want to spoil for anyone who hasn’t watched the movie yet. If you haven’t watched the movie yet, go watch it!! You won’t regret it 🙂
The theme/idea and importance of friendship are so wonderfully represented throughout the film. For instance, when Bheem and Ram realized what each other’s true purpose was and when Bheem thought that Ram was against him, he wanted to kill Ram when he got the chance, but he didn’t. This was partly because of the friendship they had with each other and that unconditional love that Bheem had for Ram. I love this scene so much because it really showed what true friendship means. No matter what might happen between two true, real friends, there will always be an underlying love and affection for each other that never dies. This idea is shown more than once and each instance amazed me because it really showed what it means to be real friends with someone. Moving on to later in the plot, when Bheem meets Sita and learns of Ram’s reasoning behind joining the British, it only took him a split second to drop everything he was doing to go help Ram. Once he learned what Ram was trying to accomplish and his intentions behind it, despite all the pain Bheem went through because of Ram, he didn’t even think twice before going to help Ram survive. This is the same idea of the underlying love for someone you were so close to and no matter what happens, it never dies.
I absolutely loved the aspect of fire and water that was added to represent what friendship means. The idea that “opposite poles attract” was shown throughout the movie and especially through the use of the fire and water elements. Ram was the fire element and Bheem was the water element and the film represented how 2 opposite elements attract. Ram, being the bold and educated character, was given the fire element. Bheem, being a little more innocent and uneducated, was given the water element. Too much water extinguishes fire and too much fire evaporates water. The way that these two opposite forces, with two different identities and personalities, met and evolved together was shown so well throughout the plot of the movie. When they first met, they balanced each other out and became such close friends. Once the fire element became more powerful, the water element had to back down and in the end, both forces became equal again.
There were multiple other themes and ideas that were represented throughout the movie in more minor parts. The idea of patriotism was present throughout the film and was the driving force of most of the plot. The idea of leadership and what it means to be a true leader was shown through Bheem’s character who is the leader of his tribal village. He did anything it took to get the little girl, Malli, back to her family and home.
Overall, I absolutely loved this movie, if it wasn’t obvious already :). Even though the movie was 3 hours long, not once did I feel bored. Every scene had meaning to it and it all flowed so well! I am truly amazed by the talent that SS Rajamouli had when making the storyline of this movie, he did phenomenally well! When really zooming out and looking at the plot, the storyline was so simple. This simple storyline was turned into such a powerful movie through emotion, comedy, love, anger, and so much more. Once again, huge applause to everyone involved in the creation of this movie, it was mind-blowing!!
Akshara Akella 