‘RRR’ Review: Telugu Cinema Superstars N.T. Rama Rao Jr. and Ram Charan Shine in a Splendidly Exciting Epic
variety.comJoe Leydon Film CriticStraight out of Tollywood: “RRR,” a bigger-than-life and bolder-than-mainstream action-adventure epic, is performing mightily in international release as audiences marvel at its spectacle, embrace its emotions, and sway to its music while being repeatedly gobsmacked by its unfettered audacity.
Propelled by the Telugu Cinema triumvirate of superstars N.T. Rama Rao Jr. and Ram Charan and director S.S. Rajamouli — whose combined names are one reason for the triple-consonant title — the movie is such an irresistible and intoxicating celebration of cinematic excess that even after 187 minutes (including intermission or, as the title card announces, “InteRRRval”), you are left exhilarated, not exhausted.
Which, truth to tell, is hard to say about certain comic-book movies from two major extended universes. Mind you, the two protagonists here aren’t supposed to be superheroes.
In fact, they are flesh-and-blood humans out of Indian history: Komaram Bheem, a revolutionary leader and guerrilla fighter from the Gond tribe during the British Raj; and Alluri Sitarama Raju, a similarly inclined insurgent who often led his under-equipped followers during raids on police stations to acquire firearms.
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