--- title: "RRR" year: 2022 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/rrr" fi1m_id: "rrr" imdb_id: "tt8178634" tmdb_id: 579974 wikidata_id: "Q60424165" fi1m_score: 78 critics_score: 84 critics_reviews: 15 published: "2026-09-30T21:39:37.512656+00:00" updated: "2026-09-30T21:40:08.493885+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # RRR (2022) Directed by S. S. Rajamouli · 3h 07m · MPA NR · Action, History, Drama ## Identity RRR - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/rrr - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** rrr - **IMDb ID:** tt8178634 - **TMDB ID:** 579974 - **Wikidata ID:** Q60424165 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8178634/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/579974, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q60424165 **Fi1m score: 78** · Critics 84 from 15 reviews *In a sentence:* The British Empire, defeated by two men, a great deal of slow motion and one dance-off at a garden party > S. S. Rajamouli takes two real revolutionaries who never met, invents a friendship for them in Delhi, and stages the most exuberant action film in years around it. It is 187 minutes long, its villains are cardboard, and we enjoyed nearly all of it. ## Synopsis Delhi, 1920, under the British Raj. Governor Scott Buxton (Ray Stevenson) and his wife Cassandra (Alison Doody) take a girl, Malli (Twinkle Sharma), from her forest village because Cassandra likes her singing. Komaram Bheem (N.T. Rama Rao Jr.), protector of her tribe, follows her to the city and searches for her under a false name. Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan) is an Imperial police officer who wants a promotion the British will not give an Indian, and volunteers to catch the tribesman he hears is coming. The two meet when a train wrecks on a bridge and a boy needs pulling from the water, and they become friends without knowing who the other is. Bheem meets the Governor’s niece Jenny (Olivia Morris), who is kind to him. ## Review Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem were real men who fought the British in the early twentieth century and who never, as far as anyone knows, met. S. S. Rajamouli, working from a story by K. V. Vijayendra Prasad, decides that they did, in Delhi in 1920, and that they became friends without either knowing what the other was for. From that invention he builds 187 minutes of trains, dances and fistfights. It is the most exuberant action film we have seen in years. It is also forty minutes too long, its Englishmen are drawn in crayon and its India has room for two kinds of person. We recommend it warmly, for a cinema with a crowd in it. The first meeting sets the standard. A train derails on a river bridge, a boy is stranded in the water among burning oil, and two strangers on opposite banks look at each other, agree a plan in a glance and carry it out with a rope, a horse, a motorbike and a flag. Senthil Kumar shoots it in late-afternoon gold and long slow motion so that you can follow every stage, and A. Sreekar Prasad cuts between the two faces so that we understand the plan before they have finished it. We laughed at the cheek of it. Then the two hands met in mid-air over the fire and we were moved, and we had not expected both from one shot. M.M. Keeravaani’s music is the engine, and the songs are scenes, not breaks between them. The best is a dance at the Governor’s party, where a sneering Englishman informs Bheem that Indians know nothing of dancing and the two friends answer with a routine of such speed and stamp that the Europeans fall over trying to keep up. Sabu Cyril’s white-columned palace and Rama Rajamouli’s braces and shirtsleeves make the pair look like two labourers who have wandered into a Merchant Ivory film and taken it over. We grinned through the whole number. It is the only fight in the film in which nobody bleeds. N.T. Rama Rao Jr. plays Bheem as a large, gentle man who fights like something let out of a cage, and he is the film’s heart. When he cannot find Malli, his face does the grieving the script is too busy for. Ram Charan gives Raju a straight back and a shut face, and his is the harder job, because Raju spends the first half doing his masters’ work and the film needs us to keep faith. Their scenes together, riding side by side or eating in the street, are why the film works: two men who like each other so much the plot has to prise them apart. Ray Stevenson’s Governor and Alison Doody’s Cassandra are villains from a Victorian melodrama, all sneer and lace, and the film wants them that way. Olivia Morris’s Jenny is warm and has nothing to do but be kind, and Alia Bhatt’s Sita has three scenes. The length is felt. A montage of friendship is followed by a second that says the same thing. Every punch in the second half is filmed from three angles when one would do. The digital work is uneven: fire and water are excellent, crowds are not, and the more the film asks of its computers the rubberier the result. And the politics are as simple as the villains. The British are monsters, the two men are close to gods, and nobody in between has a name. We were stirred more than once, and once or twice uneasy about how cheaply we had been stirred. Set against Rajamouli’s own *Baahubali* films, this is the more disciplined work: the story is smaller, the stakes are personal and the fights have consequences. Set against what Hollywood currently calls an action film, it is a rebuke. There is not a set-piece here in which you cannot say where everyone is standing. Most critics have placed it higher than we have; they were happier than we were to forgive the length. See it in a cinema if you can, with as many people as the place holds. At home, do what the film asks and stop at the interval to put the kettle on. It was built for a break, and by that point so were we. *Fi1m score 78, published 30 September 2026.* ## What the critics say The reviews for RRR are close to unanimous. Almost every critic finds the film exhilarating, and most say so with evident pleasure, treating it as a large, sincere entertainment built for a big screen. The praise gathers around two things: Rajamouli’s action set pieces, which critics describe as inventive, precisely staged and cheerfully ridiculous, and the partnership between the two leads, whose friendship several reviews call the film’s real engine. The musical numbers are singled out almost as often as the fights. The reservations are mild and scattered rather than shared. Sight and Sound finds the film bloated and nationalistic before giving in to its showmanship, and The New Yorker notes that the storytelling leans on shortcuts. Deadline points out that the women are largely sidelined, and Variety mentions the historical liberties but decides they serve the story. The spread is narrow: one mixed review, none negative, and the complaints come from critics who enjoyed themselves anyway. ## Straight answers **Is RRR worth watching?** *RRR* is worth watching for anyone who wants an action film staged with wit and stamina, and we scored it 78. It is 187 minutes long, its British villains are drawn in crayon and its politics are as simple as they are, but the set-pieces are the most exuberant we have seen in years. See it with a crowd if you can. **How long is RRR, and what is it rated?** *RRR* runs 3h 07m and is rated NR by the MPA in the US. It is an action and history film. **Where can I watch RRR in the US?** *RRR* is streaming on Netflix in the US. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service. **How violent or frightening is RRR, and is it suitable for children?** *RRR* carries a UK 15 certificate and is a violent film, with fistfights, floggings and battles that bleed, though the tone is exuberant rather than grim. Younger children will find the brutality of the British villains hard going; teenagers used to action cinema will be fine. The dance at the Governor's party is the only fight in which nobody bleeds. **How does RRR compare to Once Upon a Time in China?** *RRR* and [*Once Upon a Time in China*](https://film.one/film/once-upon-a-time-in-china) share a hero who fights colonial bullies with his fists, but Rajamouli's film is louder, longer and far more sentimental, while Tsui Hark's is the tighter, drier work with a stiller lead in Jet Li. If you want fights of pure craft, take the earlier film. If you want spectacle, songs and a friendship worth crying over, take *RRR*. **What should I watch after RRR?** After *RRR*, try [*Once Upon a Time in China*](https://film.one/film/once-upon-a-time-in-china) (1991, Fi1m 81): Jet Li fights colonial bullies in Canton with much the same idea of a hero. Then [*The Adventures of Robin Hood*](https://film.one/film/the-adventures-of-robin-hood) (1938, Fi1m 90): Errol Flynn grinning at tyranny in Technicolor; the same swagger, eighty-odd years earlier. ### Reviews we read (15) - **IndieWire**, Siddhant Adlakha (A): The critic calls RRR a dazzling, emotionally sincere action saga and a triumphant return to the theatrical experience. They especially praise the energetic filmmaking and the chemistry between its two leads. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/rrr-review-bollywood-1234711490/) - **Empire**, Ian Freer (90/100, inferred): Freer calls the film a bombastic delight and finds it entertaining from beginning to end. He particularly praises Rajamouli’s inventive action spectacle and the infectious charisma of its leads. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/rrr/) - **The AV Club**, Todd Gilchrist (90/100, inferred): The critic celebrates RRR as a hugely entertaining, culturally specific epic that also speaks through familiar cinematic conventions. He especially praises its inventive action and dance sequences, along with the lead performances and the central friendship. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/why-rrr-is-the-crowd-pleasing-thrill-ride-you-need-this-1849069306) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Frank Scheck (90/100, inferred): Scheck finds the film deliriously entertaining throughout its lengthy runtime. He especially praises the dazzling action and musical numbers, along with the charismatic leads. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/rrr-netflix-tollywood-1235268254/) - **The New York Times**, Manohla Dargis (90/100, inferred): The review finds RRR extravagantly entertaining. It praises the film’s exuberant action and spectacle. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/03/movies/rrr-ss-rajamouli.html) - **Variety**, Joe Leydon (90/100, inferred): Leydon finds the film an exhilarating, irresistible celebration of cinematic excess. He praises the leads’ chemistry and the audacious action spectacle, while noting that its historical liberties serve an exciting story. [Read](https://variety.com/2022/film/reviews/rrr-review-1235221965/) - **RogerEbert.com**, Simon Abrams (3.5/4): The review gives the film a strongly positive verdict. It singles out the extravagant action spectacle for praise. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/rrr-movie-review-2022) - **Radio Times**, Max Copeman (4/5): The critic presents the film as a hugely entertaining epic. They single out its fabulously over-the-top action for praise. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-6y2tll/rrr/) - **The New Yorker**, Richard Brody (78/100, inferred): Brody finds RRR an exhilarating, artistically bold action musical whose overt political purpose gives its spectacle force, though its storytelling relies on shortcuts and elisions. He especially praises the precise, inventive action and the athletic choreography that makes the musical numbers and fights visually dazzling. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-netflix-hit-rrr-is-a-political-screed-an-action-bonanza-and-an-exhilarating-musical) - **Sight and Sound** (75/100, inferred): The critic finds the film bloated and nationalistic but ultimately exhilarating in its maximalist showmanship. They single out Rajamouli’s elastic, carefully modulated action and the exuberance of the musical sequences. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/rrr-delirious-epic-tollywood-mythmaking) - **Screen Daily**, Tara Judah (70/100, inferred): The headline and standfirst present the film as a spectacular big-screen achievement. They single out its record-smashing scale, but the review’s full verdict is unavailable. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/rrr-review/5169413.article) - **Eye for Film**, Jennie Kermode (90/100, inferred): Kermode finds the epic emotionally absorbing, thrilling and frequently ridiculous in the best way. She singles out its imaginative, ambitious action set pieces and the powerful bond between its two leads. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/rrr-2022-film-review-by-jennie-kermode) - **Deadline**, Stephanie Bunbury (85/100, inferred): Bunbury finds the film a truly great story and an exhilarating, relentlessly entertaining epic, despite its lack of nuance. She praises its spectacular action and central bromance, while noting that its women are largely sidelined. [Read](https://deadline.com/2022/03/rrr-review-ss-rajamouli-jr-ntr-ram-charan-alia-bhatt-india-film-1234986920/) - **Polygon**, Katie Rife (78/100, inferred): The critic finds RRR an exhilarating, crowd-pleasing action epic whose themes of resistance and solidarity feel broadly relatable. She singles out Rajamouli’s kinetic spectacle and the thrilling partnership between its two leads. [Read](https://www.polygon.com/22996870/rrr-review-rise-roar-revolt/) - **The Playlist** (65/100, inferred): The URL identifies this as a review of RRR, but the page is blocked. Its verdict and any specific praise or complaint cannot be verified. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/rrr-a-rollicking-soulful-tollywood-action-epic-review-20220407/) ## Details - **Director:** S. S. Rajamouli - **Director:** S. S. Rajamouli - **Screenplay:** S. S. Rajamouli - **Story:** K. V. Vijayendra Prasad - **Cinematography:** Senthil Kumar - **Editor:** A. Sreekar Prasad - **Music:** M.M. Keeravaani - **Production design:** Sabu Cyril - **Costume design:** Rama Rajamouli - **Producer:** DVV Danayya - **Cast:** N.T. Rama Rao Jr. as Komaram Bheem; Ram Charan as Alluri Sitarama Raju; Olivia Morris as Jennifer 'Jenny' Buxton; Ray Stevenson as Scott Buxton; Alison Doody as Cassandra Buxton; Ajay Devgn as Alluri Venkatarama Raju; Alia Bhatt as Sita; Samuthirakani as Alluri Venkateshwarulu - **Runtime:** 3h 07m - **Certificate (MPA):** NR - **Release (the US):** 30 March 2022 - **Genres:** Action, History, Drama - **Budget:** $69 million - **Box office:** $167 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4pjiLGUTtk ## Where to watch in the US - Netflix: streaming *Checked 2026-09-30.* Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, AZ, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IS, IT, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, SK, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Golden Globes 2023: Best Non-English Language Film (nominated) ## If you liked this - *Baahubali: The Beginning* (2015): Rajamouli’s earlier two-parter, with a waterfall, a war and even less restraint. - *Lagaan* (2001): Villagers take on the Raj at cricket over nearly four hours, and earn every one. - *Sholay* (1975): Two friends, one motorbike, a bandit; the film every Indian buddy picture answers to. - *Once Upon a Time in China* (1991), Fi1m 81: Jet Li fights colonial bullies in Canton with much the same idea of a hero. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/once-upon-a-time-in-china.md) - *The Adventures of Robin Hood* (1938), Fi1m 90: Errol Flynn grinning at tyranny in Technicolor; the same swagger, eighty-odd years earlier. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-adventures-of-robin-hood.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/rrr