Director S.S. Rajamouli’s magnum opus RRR has engulfed the entire country like a tsunami drawing sea of people to theatres.
The movie, a visual spectacle, has become a blockbuster and is something that Indian audience have never witnessed before.
Although the lead characters in the movie is based on the lives of freedom fighters Alluri Sitaram Raju and Komaram Bheem (played by Ram Charan and NTR Junior respectively), there are references to freedom fighters like Veer Savarkar as well.
Rajamouli also pays the much needed tribute to nationalist freedom fighters across the country – Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, V.O. Chidambaram Pillai, Chhattrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Kittur Chennamma – who make their grand appearance in the last song.
With the movie pumping nationalism in the veins and arteries of the audience, ‘Dravidian Stockists’ and Leftists are suffering from heartburns with many having meltdowns.
It is not just because of the nationalism element. The Dravidian Stockists are finding it difficult to stomach the glorification of Alluri Sitarama Raju, as he makes his appearance as Hindu God Ram (fantastically portrayed by ‘Ram’ Charan) towards the end of the film.
Portraits of Alluri Sitaram Raju show him standing majestically like a puranic hero dressed in a panchagachcham, wearing a poonool/janeu, a tilak on his forehead and sporting a bow & arrow.
Even today, he is revered as an incarnation of God by the Telugu community and is fondly remembered as Maanyam Veerudu (Hero of the Jungle).
However the cultural nationalism that Rajamouli has infused in the movie seems to have irked the Dravidian Stockists and Leftists.
Mainstream Tamil news channel Puthiya Thalaimurai, which is considered to tow the line of the DMK, has reviewed the pan-India blockbuster in which it questions Rajamouli’s intentions.
Stating that Rajamouli has ‘slandered’ the Indian freedom struggle with his imagination, the review by Puthiya Thalaimurai poses the questions “What is the logic behind Ram Charan to come dressed as Lord Ram taking down the armed British Empire with just bow and arrows? Who is Rajamouli trying to please by having such a scene? Rajamouli has to answer all these questions”.
“If RRR was an entirely fictional movie like Bahubali, we won’t question if he shows Ramar or anyone else for that matter. But if a movie with Indian Independence struggle as its premise shows Ramar with bow & arrows defeating the British, it will be criticised”, review further adds.
Ofcourse, the outrage from the Dravidian Stockists is understandable. After all, when every Indian was raging for freedom, the ancestors of Dravidian Stockists – the Justice Party – existed as bootlickers to the British begging them to not leave the country and rule them from London. So, it is but natural that these descendants of the Justice Party can’t bear to see their ‘masters’ being taken down by a man in guise of Lord Ram, even if it is just a movie.
#Rajamouli is not a soft Sanghi! He’s a Sanghi pro. #RRR is a Pro Hindutva Movie. Second half is too cringe worthy!! Highly disappointed.
— Dhivya Marunthiah (@DhivCM) March 25, 2022
So #RRRMovie is another movie which completely put brahmins in a limelight and britishers with bad image like " Indian" … Rajamouli yum shankar um onnu than ..😂
— 🅴🅻🅳🆁🅸🆃🅲🅷 (@black_thangam) March 23, 2022
The review by Puthiya Thalaimurai also calls the RRR as a ‘lifeless film’ and adds that Rajamouli could’ve showed his grandeur not just in technical aspects but also in imagination. Well, the interval block in the film is proof that Rajamouli has literally made his imagination run wild.
The review condescendingly concludes that the film RRR is a waste of human effort. What else can we do except offer our deepest sympathies and a truckload of Burnol to such snobby Dravidian Stockists.
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