Hollywood director cheers for 'ridiculously melodramatic' RRR and its 'often cartoony period CGI fest'

Gremlins director Joe Dante has been left awestruck by SS Rajamouli’s RRR. He has called the film the ‘brutal portrait of horrors of British colonization’.

SS Rajamouli’s blockbuster RRR continues to impress audiences in the West. Since its digital release on Netflix and in select theatres in the US, the film has gained sort of a cult following in the US, earning rave reviews and praises from not just fans but even Hollywood celebrities. Now, Gremlins director Joe Dante is wowed by RRR, calling it ‘brutal portrait of horrors of British colonization’.

A still from RRR featuring Ram Charan and Jr NTR.

In his Facebook post, Joe shared a still from the film and penned a long note, “RRR (Rise Roar Revolt) is maybe the best Bollywood movie I’ve seen. It was certainly the most expensive. It’s made to be seen on the Big Screen, and is currently playing in LA at the Alamo Drafthouse Los Angeles!"

He also added, "Now it’s available on Netflix and it’s really quite something–a ridiculously melodramatic and violent, often cartoony period CGI fest that often recalls John Woo (among numerous other influences) but manages to remain continually enthralling over its action-packed 3 hours (!) running time, complete with the expected song interludes and a pulsing score. I bet you’ve never seen anything quite like it. And if there’s ever been a more brutal portrait of the horrors of British colonization, I missed it. Highly recommended for the Queen’s Jubilee!”

Recently, writer Jon Spaihts, who has worked on films such as Doctor Strange, Dune and Passengers, raved about RRR. He said that he hasn’t stopped thinking about the film even after two days since he watched it.

RRR is a fictional story set in the 1920s pre-independence era and is based on the lives of two revolutionaries--Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan) and Komaram Bheem (Jr NTR). Apart from Ram Charan and Jr NTR, the film also features Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn among others.

The film was made on a budget of ₹300 crore approximately and earned over ₹1200 crore worldwide during its theatrical run. The Hindi-dubbed version of RRR is streaming on Netflix while the original Telugu (as well as Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam versions) is streaming on Zee5. Recently, Netflix released figures that showed it was the most-popular non-English film on the platform globally.