Is An RRR Sequel Happening With Ram Charan And Jr NTR Reuniting?
"RRR" was the biggest cinematic event of 2022, a movie that had people spontaneously dancing in theater aisles, and a movie that gave us a better friendship in three hours than the "Fast & Furious" franchise has in ten movies.
Director S.S. Rajamouli, who had already built his career on making epic movies like "Magadheera" and the two-part "Baahubali," which combined myth and reality with stunning action and a massive sense of scale, dialed up the maximalism in every way with "RRR."
The film follows two storylines that merge, tracking Bheem (Jr. NTR), a warrior looking for a young girl who was kidnapped from his village, and Raju (Ram Charan), an officer in the British Army tasked with finding Bheem before he can wreak havoc on the British Raj. Though on opposite sides of the conflict, the two men quickly strike a beautiful friendship — one strong enough to take down entire empires.
"RRR" has everything. People throwing tigers at British officers. Two men joining to form a flesh robot via an epic piggyback ride to kill a bunch of British soldiers. One of the best musical numbers in recent memory. A sweet romance. A British governor impaled as his blood stains a giant British empire map. And that's only scratching the surface. It is a spectacular movie, one that made our list of best movies ever made, and one that ends just right, while still making you wish you could continue following these two freedom fighters.
With the crossover box office success of "RRR," as well as an Oscar win (the first for a Telugu-language film), Hollywood would have likely already greenlit an entire cinematic universe if this were an American production. But with Rajamouli in charge, will we ever get a follow-up to his fantastic epic?
What S.S. Rajamouli has said about RRR 2
Hold on to your butts, because S.S. Rajamouli confirmed in late 2022 that "RRR" would be getting a sequel! Though we don't know a lot about the film just yet, we know enough to get us excited.
For one, it will see the return of both Raju and Bheem, as well as those dastardly Brits, which is enough to get the blood pumping. For more specifics, Bollywood Hungama talked to Rajamouli's father and "RRR" co-writer Vijayendra Prasad, who said he came up with an idea that his son liked.
"After the release of 'RRR,' I shared an idea of the sequel where the story continues with Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan) and Komaram Bheem (NTR Jr) set in Africa," Prasad said. "My son liked it and asked me to develop it into a full script."
Still, it might be a while before we see the fruits of this idea, as Rajamouli said last year that it is only after the script is done that "we really look into how to make it, when to make it, and how to bring it onto the screen." Add in that the director is currently working on a project with Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu currently titled "SSMB29," and we might have to be patient before we see "RRR 2."
What could happen in RRR 2
What could a sequel to "RRR" possibly be about? After all, the governor is dead, and most of the British residency was blown up, so villains-wise, the story has ended. Of course, this is the British empire we're talking about, so there's always more where the first ones came from. Plus, the film is inspired by two real revolutionaries, Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem, who got involved in anti-Colonialist movements and fought the British — so there is still plenty of time to cover before they were both murdered.
While the real Raju and Bheem likely never met — let alone became best friends — Rajamouli is thinking beyond the confines of real history. Instead, he has talked about being inspired by Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" completely doing away with history for the sake of entertainment. "That guy broke a rule which no-one dared to break before," the director said. "It was a big, big eye-opener for me."
What's stopping Rajamouli from doing it again? The Africa setting Prasad mentioned is fascinating, but why stop there? The mantra for sequels (especially maximalist ones) is typically "bigger is better." Since India still wasn't free from the British by the end of the first "RRR," so why not take the fight to England, too? Maybe Bheem and Raja board a ship full of animals and set them loose on the streets of London, wreaking havoc until they take down King George V.
Whatever he chooses to do, we'll be there to see it on opening day.