RRR (2022)

This is an Oscar contender only in the category of Best Original Song, perhaps in part because this was not India's choice for the International Film category. It has it all in terms of what you would expect from an Indian movie--swashbuckling heroes, excellent dancing to go with the great score, and in this one, it is all draped over a true story that is told in the Telugu language. “RRR” is short for “Rise Roar Revolt” and is an anti-colonial fable and buddy drama about the imaginary combo of two real-life freedom fighters, Komaram Bheem (N.T. Rama Rao Jr.) and Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan). They aspire to one nation united, and without the British (who do not come off well here). Both Bheem and Raju are extraordinary men because they are, at heart, aspirational expressions of the people’s will. Their lives, their loved ones, and their relationships are all of secondary importance to the goal of creating a united Inida. This is set in Dehli in 1920, but India still struggles with this today--it is no longer colonists but rather religion and ethnicity at the heart of discord and violence.