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Greg Evans
Jul 22, 2022
RRR Review: Fans go berserk over film’s release; police deployed outside theatres ...
Asianet
The Indian-Telegu blockbuster RRR is shaping up to be one of the most unlikely movie hits of the year having won praise from both critics and audiences alike after it hit Netflix.
The often over-the-top but incredibly entertaining 3-hour action flick is a fictionalised tale of Komaram Bheem and Alluri Sitarama Raju, two real-life Indian revolutionaries who fought against the British occupation of India in the 1920s but never actually met one another.
If you haven't seen the film (firstly, sort that out immediately), you may well have seen the extracts from the film online which features some mind-boggling stunts, lots of CGI animals and Bheem and Raju basically putting all the Avengers to shame with their superhuman strength and heroism.
However, the film doesn't look to have gone down too well with everyone, notably historian Robert Tombs who wrote a piece in The Spectator criticising the film's 'nasty' portrayal of the British.
In the piece Tombs writes: "To portray British officials and soldiers roaming the country casually committing crimes is a sign of absolute ignorance or of deliberate dishonesty… So films like RRR do not reveal some hidden truth about the past, nor do they express genuine popular feelings. They try to stir up synthetic emotions…Netflix should be ashamed for promoting it."
Now while Tombs is entitled to his opinion and obviously has the credentials to speak on the matter it is worth pointing out that RRR is not based on any factual accuracy, which should be clear to anyone who has watched the film. However, the piece is facing a backlash mostly from Indian people on Twitter but also from fans of the film elsewhere in the world.
\u201cMasterda Surya Sen was tortured in worst possible manner .His teeth were uprooted. His limbs were broken . His unconscious boby was hanged . But yeah RRR made British as villians . The audacity \ud83d\ude42. These are just documented ones . There are lakhs of undocumented ones like this .\u201d— Subham. (@Subham.) 1658326933
\u201cRobert Tombs, you should at least be happy that we have always portrayed one nice British girl in every Indian movie based on colonialism, #RRR, #Lagan, which is highly different from the actual history.\u201d— Gaurav Chaudhary (@Gaurav Chaudhary) 1658337397
\u201ci read this so you didn\u2019t have to and i can tell you: this entire white boy is in deep denial.\u201d— buy my book, link in bio \ud83d\udd2a (@buy my book, link in bio \ud83d\udd2a) 1658333494
\u201cHe mad that they showed Britishers stealing a kid, \ud83d\ude44\u201d— Himalayan Gypsy (@Himalayan Gypsy) 1658310463
\u201cNo "two sides" are demanded from Schindler's List because the world has universally accepted Nazi barbarity. However, the British live in denial about their past. Victory doesn't erase history. Churchill maybe a hero for you but for colonized countries, Empire = Nazis.\u201d— Hardik Rajgor (@Hardik Rajgor) 1658305034
\u201cRobert Tombs in RRR\u201d— Liberal Realist \ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf3 \ud83c\udf10\u2695\ufe0f (@Liberal Realist \ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf3 \ud83c\udf10\u2695\ufe0f) 1658308221
\u201cThis is what you did to our country you racist colonizers! If you don't want yourselves to be shown as villains, you should not have colonised people, killed them, plundered their wealth, etc etc. You deserve to be shown more evil in the movies.\nhttps://t.co/o0OfmQg80w\u201d— r \u2605 (@r \u2605) 1658289843
\u201cRRR is a mild take on the British empire. If you want to see how evil it truly was, watch Sardar Udham. https://t.co/qRnt0u4S1n\u201d— \u2600\ufe0f\u2600\ufe0f\u2600\ufe0f (@\u2600\ufe0f\u2600\ufe0f\u2600\ufe0f) 1658292277
\u201cHere is your Ex PM David Cameron refusing to return the looted Kohinoor Diamond, admitting "If we start returning things we took from our colonies, the whole British museum would be empty".\n\nSo save us your sanctimony on how British Rule wasn't all that bad, we know our history.\u201d— Cogito (@Cogito) 1658287340
\u201cAnyways, hardest shot of the year\u201d— Max (@Max) 1658277345
\u201cRRRatio \u201d— Frank Bello (@Frank Bello) 1658261563
RRR is the most expensive Indian film ever made with a budget of ₹550 crore ($72 million) and briefly became the second highest grossing Indian film ever.
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