Further, the filmmakers invited Rajamouli fans to come up with their own abbreviation interpretation for the title. Titles with similar sentiments poured in, and eventually Raudraṁ Raṇaṁ Rudhiraṁ won out. Translated from Telugu to English: Rise Roar Revolt. Though most of the events of the film are invented for the purpose of cinematic drama and action, the archetypes of these men are borrowed from the pages of history. In the Q&A, director and co-writer S. S. Rajamouli said that his film was inspired by the revisionist history that Tarantino wrote into his WWII film. “When I was watching the film and when Hitler was suddenly shot, it blew me away! We knew Hitler didn’t die that way, and it suddenly opened my eyes. Okay, we are making a fictional story. We don’t need to stick to historical accuracies.” This way of thinking allowed him to tell a totally fictitious story about real people. But how do you make these freedom fighter characters dance, and seamlessly weave it into the story? Rajamouli evolved it from a simple dance into a competition. By the time the song starts, the audience already wants our two heroes to do something to show up the bad guys. In most cases, a threat from the opposition could be followed up with a fight or action sequence, but in this case, it turns into an impromptu dance contest. No matter how outrageous the action scenes may be, there still needs to be an emotional drive with the characters. By comparison, Apocalypse Now, one of the longest and most extended shoots in cinema history, had 238 days of principal photography. Ray Stevenson plays the British Raj administrator. You may recognize him from Dexter, Black Sails, or HBO’s Rome. His sadistic wife is played by former Bond girl and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’s Alison Doody. Social media posts got people’s attention, and when more screenings became available, RRR was shown to constantly sold-out crowds. Now that it is available on Netflix, the fanbase is becoming larger and more vocal. Maybe a long shot, but it’s not unheard of for a popular non-English language film to take home the gold; remember the amazing film Parasite that won Best Picture just a few years ago?
