RRR

Weirding Wave Media. Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of The Bollywood Cinema Club, where we take a look at Indian cinema old and new, mostly from the perspective of someone who's not Indian, namely your host Chris dash Hue, and I am joined by a very good friend of mine on this episode of the show. He is the host of a movie podcast of his own right, but not solely Indian cinema. But you have covered some Indian cinema on your show. My good friend in yours, the projection Boots Mike White.

Yeah, can't get much whiter than me. It's in the name, folks. What do you expect right there? Yeah? So, Mike Sins is the first time that you are on The Bollywood Cinema Club.

I wanted to ask you, since I've kind of asked everybody who've been on the show so far, what is before we talk about the movie, because I know we're gonna have a lot to talk about. Tell me a little bit about your background with Indian cinema as a whole. Well. I came to it through film studies classes, so I was seeing the Panther Panchali films and I know that I'm butchering that. So the sung yet Ray films, I saw one in one class and I saw another in another class and didn't realize that they were part of trilogy, the Hpoo trilogy.

So fuck me right. So that's totally different than what a lot of people now when they hear about Indian cinema, what comes to mind. I don't think there was any singing, any dancing, very very kind of felt almost like like a new way type of film. Sure. And then years later I was talking about cinema with a friend of mine, coworker Somia, and she was asking, oh, are you interested in Indian films.

I'm like, hell yeah, I'd love to see Indian films. I've never really seen like a typical Indian film before. And so she hooked me up with a soundtrack for Ranguila and then also the movie of it. So I watched that, which we talked about on the Culture Cast a few months ago. I think, yeah, we talked about it in I guess, yeah, Bollywood's Cinema Month of twenty twenty two.

Yeah, and then I saw Muthu and a few other films, and then it's kind of just been like touch and go. As far as what I see, I'm not seeking a lot of stuff out other than Triple R, actually, because I just kept hearing great things about it. But for the most part, you've been my conduit to a lot of great Indian cinema. Wow. Yeah, hats off to you.

So I feel like now you feel a little proud of that. Frankly should Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah. And what's funny is this movie came out this year. It's brand new.

Uh. And it's not that I didn't have any intention of covering it, but um, I was waiting for someone to say, let's talk about it because if you've seen clips of this movie out of context, it makes it look like the most insane movie ever made. And it kind yeah, and it kind of is, uh, kind of in the vein of another movie that will probably talk about in the future at some point. I don't know how if you've seen it. But before we talk about Triple R, have you seen Baho Bali one or two?

No? Okay, So Baho Bally is it's like this movie. But it's like this movie. It's directed by ss Rajamoli. It's about it's more about the I guess it's kind of about the it's kind of about yeah, well I'm I don't want to butcher it, but it's essentially about a like half god named bahu Bali.

But it's an epic movie just like this one, and so like that, when I started watching this movie, I was like, oh my god, like I've seen this before, but you have not seen bahu Bali before. No, okay, So just for the audience, just to put that out there, so our reactions are going to be a little different than if we had seen bahu Bali because some of this stuff is kind of from that. But on this episode of the Bollywood Cinema Club, we're gonna be taking a look at ss Rajamuli's R R R from two thousand and twenty two, otherwise known as Rise, Roar and Revolt. So yeah, the film is directed by ss Rajamuli and it stars Anti Rama Rao Junior as Beam and ram Sharan Teja as Raju and Boy. I mean, there are a lot of other people in the movie, but that you look at the poster, you've seen the previews, you know who the main characters are, who the main actors are, and the film follows the These are two real life people, Raju and Beam, and they took the British Raj to task in the nineteen twenties and they actually helped free the southern Indian portion of India from the British.

And so that's this is this is based off of a real story. But it's like saying Iron Man is based off of a real story, because there are some things in this movie that are well, we'll get to when we get to him. But Mike, you were the one who said you wanted to watch this movie, and you you saw it and then wanted to watch You saw it, and then you were like, we need to cover this. Oh right, So tell me about your first viewing and your initial thoughts on R R R. I was reminded a lot of John Woo while I was watching this, The use of slow motion, the real epic nous of everything.

I know that's not really a word, but just but it is. It literally is it's so epic. And then the whole story of the undercover policeman infiltrating this other guy's group, and just that everybody has their own motivations and other than the British, everybody's motivations are very, very pure and it's all this doing the wrong thing for the right reason. And I love the use of flashbacks that we have in here. I love the story structure, and I have to say they really pulled the rug out from under me several times where I just did not see what was coming.

And I have now seen this movie three times because it is just that frigging good and there are amazing kind of again like John Wu, there are amazing set pieces, but the whole thing just comes together in gels so well that despite this being over three hours long, it just moves. I'm never bored, I am always entertained watching this. I was surprised that at no point in this movie was there right gun no no, no, no, no no. That's what it reminded me of so much of A Better Tomorrow, like in a lot of ways, like it was weird, like how did we watch A Better Tomorrow three times this year but in three separate cinema types because we watched it here and then I believe I watched it with Indian Cinema earlier this year.

I'm trying to remember what the movie was that A Better Tomorrow either was based on or was it inspired A Better Tomorrow and now this, I mean it has that same two guys from the separate sides of the river, separate sides of the wall. That's what it was. It was the the Oh my god, what the fuck is the name of that movie? I literally just watched it when Richard we talked about it with Richard. Oh my god, hold on, I feel like SIoT.

Now. I even brought up a Better Tomorrow on that episode of the show, and I had it on the tip of my tongue, and I forgot it. I was thinking more hard boiled just because of the undercover policeman type of thing. Wow, I can see what you're talking about with Kit and stuff, and well, I don't know, I can't with his brother and that whole thing. I can see that, but I really see much more of the two characters are hard boiled, especially ones on one side of the law, the other ones pretending to be a criminal, but he's actually a really good guy.

So that's where I was coming from with this stuff. But yeah, I can see a better Tomorrow. I can see the killer in here as well. So this hits all those high points of John Woo for me. Yeah, So that movie was de war which means the wall and it's about two brothers on opposite side.

So yeah, I mean, these guys in this movie aren't brothers. They're kind of I mean, by the end of it, they would probably call one another brother. So oh yeah, it kind of doesn't really it's kind of a moot point. But no, to your point that you know that was of all the people that I like, see the influence in this movie of it's John wo like, and I'm not saying nobody else, but the parts of this movie that you've seen out of context are all action, crazy slow mo. I mean, you could even make the case, like again, that the more contemporary example is someone like Zack Snyder, but I wouldn't say that because this is actually good.

Yeah yeah, subject Yes, even though it's a heavy subject matter, it isn't oppressive. You know, you feel terrible for people, but you care about people, Whereas with Zack Snyder people I don't care about any of the protagonists or the antagonists. I don't care about anybody in his movies, Whereas here it's like the smallest character is either a great hero or an awful villain. And you know, the guy who comes in and needs his motorcycle effects. It's just like, fuck that guy.

I fucking hate that guy getting people in the in the shop and everything. I'm just like, oh my god, he's terrible. So then when he comes back later on, I'm just like, yeah, yeah, I'm really glad that that deer's got very pointy horns. Yeah. Oh my, oh dear god, oh my god.

Yeah, oh Lord already. Yeah. So I had again, like yourself, I had never seen this movie before, but I again, I had seen the first Blah Bhu Bali, so I was like, all right, this is from the same director, so maybe it will be different. And first five minutes of the movie, I was like, no, this is this is a big This is really if you're a if you're a Westerner coming to this movie and you've never seen Indian cinema before. Like I wouldn't say it's like a Marvel movie because I don't even think that's an apt enough comparison, but like, the stakes are are being presented as that high oh yeah, which I appreciate.

Like again, like this movie. The stakes in this movie are the freedom of your people. And again, you know, given what we've seen in real life in the last forever with the you know, the British and the way they treated the Indian people as a whole. Like, yeah, they are a constant villain in Indian cinema. Um Um.

I was reminded a little bit of Lagan is what while I was watching this Yeah, yeah, me too, I was thinking like, oh, you know again, in Lagan they're not as evil at least not as violent. But because in this movie there, I mean, in this movie, you have the British characters murdering people like just essentially with want and abandon, torturing them, beating them up, maiming them. It's I mean again, this movie pulls no punches, which I really appreciate because again, like it's in this day and age with Western cinema, I feel like with a lot of films there are no stakes anymore. Like I am not really worried like in a movie like this in the States, like they might not spend all the time building the characters.

But this movie is three hours long, and I feel like by the end of the movie, I want to see the next one, and I want to see the next two or three or however many more they make. But the characters that have been created of being and Raju are They're so fully realized, and I feel like I'm repeating myself every time I watch Indian cinema. These characters are always so fully realized, but they are. I don't know why in Western cinema we have this idea of movies have to be short and they can't exceed a certain length. But when you watch a movie like this or so many Indian cinema films, they take that three hours and it feels like they could have given it two more and I probably still would have watched it.

And I mean, yeah, I would. I had to have broken it up into two viewing, sure, but even by the end of this movie, I'm like I could watch more, like let's keep going here, but by the end of it, like it's just it's I'm always so pleased when we when we finished one of these Indian cinema films, and by the end of it, I'm like, I understand these characters so intimately in a way that like, I just don't understand why Western cinema is has a hard time right believable characters. But like, I don't know what it is, but in these movies, I just I believe them like whole cloth. Well, and what we always talk about the music and people are so you know, averse to musicals. In this movie, there's only really well, there's the end song, which is completely appropriate, very much celebration.

There's the for lack of a better term, nacho song that happens at the party, Na na, Nacho, Nacho, and then the rest of the songs are there to explain what's going on in the film or just to reinforce things that are going on, just like, hey, these two guys, are they ever going to find out what's really going on with them? You know, they're they're really coming together and they're like brothers now, but you know there's going to be problems later on. And I like that it's telling us all these things. It's almost more like a Greek chorus kind of thing, where it's just like, Okay, you're watching this montage, but here's really what's happening behind the scenes. I was like, that's really cool, and it wasn't one of those like all right, we're gonna stop and have a musical number.

And the more of Indian cinema I watch, the more I realize that that's pretty much the norm it's not the Western style nineteen fifties type of musical where it's like, oh, you want to talk about you know, jam and bread, honey, Oh wait, well let's talk about it, and like and we here we go have a whole song about jam and bread. Right, yeah, No, it's it's interesting. That was kind of one of the things that I noticed, and I Am Bob Bally is similar, but this one really leans on that even more of like I'm I'm I'm not willing to take my movie and inject music the way you anticipate it's going to be injected, because, like you said, most of the time, especially in the more kind of dramatic films, the music just kind of springs out of out of the action, just seemingly out of nowhere.

And I really appreciate in this movie that they use the music in a way to further explain what's go going on in these scenes and kind of let you know kind of where where the story is and where the story is going without exposition dumping, because it's almost exposition. It's musical exposition in a way, but it totally works in the non sung songs. The actual score of the film is so compelling, and there's so many great themes that come up and you're just like wow, Like as soon as the music starts in certain places, you're just like, oh, fuck, this music signals that's something really big is about to happen. I love it. You mean that scene towards the end of the movie where they're like shine the spotlights on him, and then all of a sudden, he's backlit like Roger's backlet Like god rama.

Yes, moments like that make make me not only take pause, they make me like just genuinely appreciate that somebody is still making movies like this. And again, you know what, do I wish that somehow a Westerner could capture this energy? Sure, but like I'm so glad that an entire country of people have harnessed it entirely, because like, that's the thing about this movie. It's such an It's so even though you have characters being murdered, even though you have characters being bashed over the head and you know, maimed and stuff, it's still such a like not a joyous movie, but kind of like I don't know how it's yeah, it kind of is like by the end of the movie, you're you really are like so enthralled with the characters, but yeah, they Oh my god, the music in this movie is just it reminds me of when John Williams's music really hits in those early like Indiana Jones and Star Wars movies, those like really rousing moments.

It does that in a way that like again like it's just mm Kiravani like, look, you know, as as a as someone who is loves Indian cinema but is more familiar with less contemporary stuff, He's definitely someone to keep an eye on. And so is S. S Raja Mouley because man, I mean again this what's insane about this movie is it is just a superhero movie. Yeah, Like I don't know how anyone would explain it. And SS Roger Mouley himself has said it's essentially a meeting between two superheroes because the characters of Beam and Rojh are seen as such because the real life revolutionaries, now did they Let's just can't we talk about how the crazy just like to start naming the crazy things that happened in this movie.

Oh my god. In Heaven, so we're introduced to the character of Beam by him fist fighting a tiger. Yes, well even before that, he's standing there half dressed, just that little you know panties got on pouring that blood over him. Is so well built, muscular and harry and glistening. And I'm just like wow, the fetishization of these guys is amazing.

You know. It's like I was just there for them. I was like, my god. And then when you see the other one with his shirt off, He're just like, holy shit. These guys are built like shit brickshit houses.

These are amazing, just specimens of masculinity and they're not afraid to show it. No. And what's funny is in Baho Bally, the actor who plays Baho Bally isn't Jack, but they like cgied him what and it looks it looks straight, but they gave him like cgi like abs. Essentially, it's not great. But and so I was worried because I was like, oh my god, is it going to be the same thing.

Where again, Baha Bally, I think was like a good primer for this movie. But this is the most expensive Indian cinema film ever, Maze seventy two million dollar movie, which is crazy that that's as expensive as it's been because in the game was what like three hundred boy five hundred million. Yeah, I mean cross on one hundred mill mark is not that unusual these days, which is hilarious because you know, when I was coming up in the World, I was like, oh my god, what a world is. So it's such a disaster and it's like that's a drop in the bucket now and I'm kind of pun intended on that one. Yeah, and game had a budget of four hundred million dollars.

Wow, this movie had a budget of seventy one, Like, and what's crazy is I guess not even crazy. What I love about this movie is it looks amazing too. Oh, Baho Bali had an issue with the CGI not looking great, and like everybody I've talked to has said as much, like, oh, the CGI is not great, But the movie is kind of equally as nuts and crazy. I mean, you have a character climbing up floating waterfalls. It's worth checking out.

Do not do not let me dissuade you from checking out. It's on Netflix. It's just if this is your jam. Baho Bali is like this a little less, but it's still in that same vein again. Because these are real people and that's more like telling the story of the gods or the demigods.

But I was really worried that when they showed the two actors it was going to be like cgi abs again. But yeah, no, yeah, no, Ram Sharon and Anti Ramarau Junior are fucking ripped in a way that I was It's not that I wasn't expecting it, but like they're a shirtless boast of the movie. Oh yeah, yeah, I lovever they have the opportunity. They are taking up their shirts, yeah, and posing epically like like you said, like that. You know what's weird is we really rag on people like Zack Snyder for something like three hundred like overutilizing slow mo and really just like, oh, this is cool.

It's gotta be SlowMo. You're flicking a toothpick or lighting a cigarette or something. And in this it's like there is a scene of slow motion where Roger is standing on the front of the boat with the sun behind him and he's just like pulling off from the shore and it's in slow motion. I'm like, yeah, this is awesome, Like I'm here for this and it's it's it's so interesting to watch the way ss Roger Mooley uses SlowMo because again, it is such kind of this weird like lightning Rod in western cinema now recently like using SloMo and like overusing it. And what's weird is this movie uses it a lot.

But I'll tell you something, I didn't notice it at all, which like there's maybe one scene I noticed it towards the end where because of course they're on one another's shoulders at the end of the movie. Oh my god, yes, because of course they are. They flip up onto like a tower. And that's kind of the one scene. Who was like, I understand why this is SlowMo because it looks cool, but like, this is the ones that do not exist in this movie, right, Well I wasn't even complaining about that, Like, yeah, physics don't exist in this movie.

That if that's the scene we're pointing at, we've forgotten the scene where he flies out of the van with all the tigers. Oh my god, Jesus fucking Oh. Okay, So we're introduced to one of the characters Beam by fighting a tiger in the in the jungle, and then we're introduced to Raju in an equally as insane way. So you have a large group of workers and they're all very angry at the beginning of the film, and Roju is a police officer in the Indian Imperial Police, and so he's a he's trying to help quell these kind of pro independence gatherings. And this police station is surrounded by people and this one guy takes a rock and hurls it and hits the picture of the King on the wall.

It falls down, and of course the shit, he'll British go go get that guy. So they send Roju out to a group of people. Oh, I don't think they send them, he just volunteers. I was just like, okay, yeah, here I go into a into what would be in a zombie movie, a horde of people, and I don't know how to describe what happens other than sheer chaos, just like the one of the small one of the more like claustrophobic fight scenes I think I've seen in a film in a long since since Game of Thrones. Actually that a scene in the second last season a Game of Thrones where John Snow is like clawing his way out of this pile of people.

And there's a shot in this movie where I've never seen it in a movie before. I've never seen it in anything. You have essentially a ceiling of people over where they're shooting, and then they're shooting underneath them as the character of Roger's being pushed and pulled by people, but the people are providing a human canopy for the light, and so you're filming in essentially like a two by two space. And I've never seen that shot before. It's and like all I could think was, how has nobody ever done this right?

And then the audio it's like all closed in as well, and you just hear him and the crowd going on, but then you hear him struggling, and it's like, wow, this is amazing. He reminded me of ogami Eto, where it's just like, oh, there's an army of like a thousand people, don't worry, ogami Eto, We'll get through it. And it's kind to the same thing, like, yes, he takes a few licks, but he's able to walk in or run into that compound after he gets the one guy out of thousands of people, and yeah, it takes on this entire crowd and basically just he disrupts the entire thing and so by the end most people are going home or have already left. It's yeah, it's amazing. Yeah.

And what does he using What is he using a gun or a sword? No, he's using a stick. Yeah, just his nightstick, that's all. Yeah, it's Yeah. When he jumps over that wall, I was like, oh my god, because that's the essentially that's the first scene in the that's the first action scene of the movie, and it sets it sets the toad.

Yeah. Well what is even before that? To back up, is that whole thing with the little girl Mama being kidnapped basically from the village and getting introduced to the film's villains, the head of the military in India, the white guy and his Oh my god, bloodthirsty wife. She she just carries around whips with thorns on them. I'm like, what, okay, she's just so wants to see people hurt.

She's just wonderfully evil. Both of them are super evil. That the main guy, the main bad guy, so reminds me of like a Jackie Chan villain, Like probably because he's maybe speaking English, but I don't know how many different voices have been put into his mouth. In the version that I watched, I mean, it's Ray Stevenson. He was speaking speaking that was his whole thing, Yeah, because he was speaking English and mine, and I'm just like, was he dubbed at some point?

I don't think it sounded like him? Okay. I love Ray Stevenson. He that couple, What a power couple, and just like, oh, yeah, just throw a couple of coins at these Indian people and we're just going to steal your daughter. Thanks.

We really like how she sings. She's a songbird to them, and they just take her out of the juncle. Yeah, you know, it was weird, Like I wasn't I didn't know that Ray Stevenson was in this movie and he's been in you know, he was The Punisher and that that second Punisher movie. He was in the MCU at one point, he doesn't look like the Ray Stevenson I'm used to. I didn't recognize him at Oh That's what I was wondering, Like, I was like, did you because I know you know who that is, because you oh yeah, you did a whole episode on Punisher war Zone on your show.

Yeah, Ray Stevenson, he's fucking great in this movie. It's yeah, it's you're completely right. He felt like such a Jackie Chan movie villain right like and again, like, what's funny is this? You know, we talk about John Wou, but the other like the other person that I would compare this movie too, like Tonally is a lot of the Jackie Chan Hong Kong movies that we've talked about. This movie's not as funny and as slaps sticky, but it's like one degree away, you know what I mean, It's what it feels like because it is there.

I mean, this movie is not definitely serious. It is a fun time. It does not take itself, it doesn't take itself seriously, but it is a serious movie. One of my co workers who now it's like, I'm very lucky. I work with Indian people very often, and so my co worker at this job, Shunga, she recommends movies to me all the time.

And I was like, oh, I saw R R. And She's like, oh, that was too violent for me. I couldn't watch it. And I was like really, And then I was rewatching the movie for the third time, and Andrew was in the room and she had saw it before and she was just like, I'm having a hard time with all this violence in here. And it was all the violence of the white people against the Indian people.

And I was like, yes, I understand, but we're supposed to hate on all of these villains. But and she's like it's just too much. Can you fast forward? Because she just hated seeing these poor inness of people being beaten. I'm like, I understand where you're coming from, but it's kind of crucial to the movie.

Well, I mean, the whole scene where Beam is being whipped by Rod is rough to watch. I mean, oh yeah, I think I think for me, I wonder. No, No, it's not that I wonder about whether or not the violence was enough, but the violence, I don't know. The violence for me was one of those things where I like with those Jackie Chan movies, I get it, like I feel like it has to push it to that point. So by the time we get to the end of the movie, where like I would say, the shit hits the fan, but like where the movie goes completely blonkers, It's like I want to see Ray Stevenson and Alison Duty of all people just get demolished, Like I want to see them get theirs in the worst way.

And I will say I'm actually kind of disappointed that they don't get it more than they get it because again, like like you mentioned, the entire plot of the film revolves around a young girl taken from her village because they bought her from the parents, and the parents unknowingly sold their child. Right, Yeah, I think I had no idea. It's never explained why they bought her. What's the point of buying her, Why they didn't just go and get an Indian child from somewhere else. Clearly they're rich and powerful enough to do so, it's never explained.

But like you said, they're written as like dastardly mustache twirling villains. But that is exactly what this movie needed, because again, I don't want to have there is a character in this movie, and I honestly kind of feel like it goes really underdeveloped. The Olivia Morris' character beams love interest. I feel like it's almost forgotten in the last like second. The second half of the movie, second half of the movie becomes Roger's film in a big way with all the flashbacks that we've talked about I haven't talked about but you've mentioned.

But I think it's I think it's really smart because, like you mentioned, with something like Lagan. That movie kind of is not as violent and kind of aggressive as this movie, So you can paint the British in a little bit more of a sympathetic light. Not saying you should, but in this movie, it's like perfect that they're these mustache twirling miserable terrible, like they're terrible, they're just awesome. Yeah, And it's really in Lagan, it's more the threat of what's happening, especially this whole thing of like you know, you guys, you know you're you're not getting any rain. You can't give us enough of the tariff that we're charging you your crops basically, and because this guy has come and humiliated us, basically we are going to double it or triple it.

And it just it's more that threat of starvation rather than that outright violence that we have here. Yes, there is violence in there, but I would say the main guy from Lagan, the main villain, is probably the same tier as the guy who challenges them to the dance off and this one who never really comes back after that, right, well, yeah, because this movie has a dance off too, Yeah, which is which not out of place. I like, I like the kind of the second quarter of this movie where it's really exploring the relationship between Beam and Raju growing and like seeing them and the montage of them, it reminded me a lot of um Shole that kind of the interplay between those two characters in that film. I yeah, look, I have not seen Anti Rama, Rao Junior or Ram Charan in anything else.

But they're amazing. Their chemistry is it's like the ultimate bromance, right God, Like I I you know, I have friends who I'm pretty close with, but like I don't have any friends that I'm taking on my shoulders to shoot bow and arrow. Their chemistry, Like what's funny is their chemistry is so good. I don't need Olivia Morris. I don't need Ali a bot and Ali a boat.

It was weird. Like I saw her in gully Boy last year. That movie is amazing. If you haven't seen it, it's about a it's about an up and coming hip hop rapper in uh Doba, Mumbai. But she plays the girlfriend of the main character.

And so when I saw her in this movie, I was like, okay, Like they don't introduce her until the first hour and a half of the movie is gone, Like no, exaggeration. All of a sudden it cuts to her and you're like, wait, what what movie is this? But I honestly don't think this movie needed love interests. I think the love interests are the two leads, like yeah, oh yeah, well she does. The White Lady plays an important role in so far as getting into the castle for a better term, into there, so that's good, and but she like shows up at the end of the movie almost like out of the blue.

It's like here is this, this, this, and this, like where have you been this? And also like why are you? Like why are you okay with this? Like right, I didn't get the sense that they're The movie didn't do enough to build their relationship. I needed like two or three more scenes really or just don't have it at all.

She needed a crisis of faith as well. You know she is just yeah, like oh that's terrible. But she's so clueless throughout the whole thing. Like when he gets that bracelet and puts the marks on the bracelet, sorry Bengal as I keep saying, and then gives it to her and then the little girl Malla gets it and she's just so excited, and you know, the lady just never really figures it out. I'm like, okay, you know, like she never really has that moment where she's like, oh, we stole this girl and he's coming at Oh I get it now.

Yeah, Like yeah, but I'm okay with that. I mean, like I don't mind that at all. And she's very attractive, and I like that romance that they have, like the one scene and how he memorizes her saying, don't call me madam, it's Jenny. Okay, that's not her name, bro right. I love that.

It almost feels like that that joke is used to build their relationship the two leads, not her and him, And that's like, I don't know what's funny is in a movie that's three hours long, somehow they don't even have enough time to really flesh out the love interests. So yeah, I don't Yeah, Ali a bot, I mean they both need to be there, I guess, But I don't know. The structure of the movie doesn't It doesn't lend itself to I don't know, it doesn't lend itself to a second half character introduction very well. Like at the second half of the movie, it's more about looking at the other characters that we've already met, and so introducing Ali a Bat's character essentially at the halfway point of the movie, it just feels very odd.

It should have been, like, I know that they're trying to save that twist until the scene with Beam being tortured is over and he gets taken out in the police car and Roger is like standing there and you're like, oh my god, like he's you know, what has he done? But oh wait, does that come before that scene or after? It comes pretty late in the film though they give you little glimpses of it, and I like that too, because there's like, there's just one moment where we get a quick flash of his dad and we get that introduction of the whole idea of how much a bullet costs from that very first scene, and then when we get it again later on, we're just like, oh okay, and then we'll get it a third time at the very end.

It pays off very well. But yeah, having that scene where it is, having the flashbackstart where it does, I think is really important because we have to now suddenly reevaluate his character all the way through and even think about that very first scene that we're talking about with him where he's fighting the crowd, and you're just like, Oh, he's doing whatever he can to get that promotion so that he can get in charge of these arms and give them to his people, And suddenly everything starts to click. So watching this a second time, I was like, I appreciate this a lot more, even though I did do that reevaluation, but watching it again with that in mind, I was like, Oh, I see what he's doing, Harry.

Yeah, well this makes a lot more sense. And then you really start to sympathize with him a lot more than you did the first time, where you're just like, man, I hope that fucking snake just kills this guy. May I hope he dies in the gutter, this piece of shit. Well, but you're completely right. I mean they do not reveal the twist of this movie until an hour and a half in, and then again.

The big twist is that the character of Roju is also a revolutionary. He's just going about it in a different way than Beam. Beam is fight the power upfront, and he is trying to subvert their ability to fight from inside by rerouting weapons to the people of his village. Because that he leaves his village, he leaves Seetha and goes, hey, I'm not coming back until I've got weapons for everybody, and yeah, and you don't learn that until an hour and a half in when you get this one. It's so it's the part of the movie that's really hard to watch because so you have aj Devon, who plays who plays Rodju's dad, and you get this extended flashback of when the British came calling for his dad because his dad was also a revolutionary who was trying to stand up to the British, and his father finds out that Rodju is uncharacteristically good with a gun, and so what ends up happening.

The British show up and there is a one v one hundred gunfight where there are one hundred British soldiers shooting it Raju's father and in the in the Malay, I guess his mom dies, his brother dies, Yeah, And then in the just just to blow his own dad up, which is just like yeah again, right, yeah, it's so to me. When Tony has to kill his boss and hard boiled and like turns and gives that smile to Anthony Wong and then when he keeps turning and it's just the audience looking at him. You get to see the pain in his face. It's one of those moments for me where you're just like, my god, what you just had to do for your father and just that that's given him now this this mission in life in order to do all this, and he's doing whatever he can in order to fulfill what he considers his destiny.

It's just like, holy shit, man. And I had to say he's the revolutionary Beam, like he kind of becomes a revolutionary, but really he's just there for Malla at first. But he's kind of the protector of all of the you know, he's the protector of the tribe out in the forest. And he again, he feels like he's and I like, you know, we haven't even talked about the elements. You know that the Raju represents fire and then Beam represents water.

I mean basically he is an elemental being. You know, he is this to me, he's like the spirit of the forest that's coming out and taking care of Mala and bringing her back to her family. But if that means that he has to take out a thousand British people, yeah, so be it. He's going to have to do whatever it takes in order to make things right with that that that situation back home. Well, and oh, like you've mentioned the idea that one is water and one is fire is echoed over and over and over again.

And there are these little kind of like interstitial credits because the actual credits for the movie aren't until like forty minutes in on their own. The credits don't play until after the insane train wreck scene where there's a train that explodes on the underneath part of a bridge and they managed to see one another from from like essentially thousands of yards away, point at one another and go, we're saving this kid who's on a boat under eat the bridge as all this fire and wreckage, and what do they do? What do they do? Mike? They jump off of the bridge with a rope tied around each one of them, ending, oh, just oh, don't forget.

One of them is riding a motorcycle, the other ones riding a horse. So we have the mechanism versus the nature kind of thing. Oh. I love that when they're talking to each other through the hand signals. These guys have never talked to each other, never late eyes on each other ever before and there's Roger up on the bridge just like doing these hand signals and being just like, oh yeah, yeah, I'm glad you understand, because I would be thoroughly confused if I were one of these characters in this moment.

And then that he's got the revolutionary flag and uses the flag to he dips it in the water after he jumps off of the thing, dips it in the water, so again the water spirit. And we've got Beam coming out through the fire, and like he wraps him in the flag so that he's protected when he goes back through the fire. And I'm just like, fucking a, this is amazing. I again, perfect piece of slow mo, perfect piece of cutting. The music's there, everything is happening.

And then afterwards how they're like running to meet each other underneath the water. Yes, oh my really. It's again like if if anything, if if, if anyone wants to complain about this movie lacking style, you've got no leg to stand on. No, but like, because it's just like, I have seen very few movies that can pull off being this stylized this well while somewhat still feeling like they do exist in reality. Quote yeah, quote, I mean there are some things that happened in this movie that are not realistic, like Roger jumping thirty feet over the fence.

Initially he jumps from like it's insane. But like at the same time, if you if you go with the interpretation that these are superheroes, like there you go, and I like that about this. It's like it's we're not going to explain to you always got concrete skin or something. It's like, nope, Like that's just that's the spirit of fire in the spirit of water, right, because these guys go through fucking hell in this movie. Yeah.

I mentioned that whip earlier. That whole scene Holy shit, Oh my god. Yeah, I mean you thought Passion of the Christ was bad, this is right up there, man, And this is such a martyr type of moment. This whole You're gonna fall to your knees and you know, ask for forgiveness and he's just Nope, not going to fall to my knees. And that song there's another song that comes out in that moment and you're just like, yes, you are getting this crowd behind you.

I love that moment. Yeah, No, that moment again, like you mentioned, I mean, there are these moments in this movie where it just it builds and it builds and it builds and it builds, and then you see the crowd like freak out collectively and it's like slow motion. They're like and it's like, oh my god, Like this movie ss Rama July has such a finger on how to effectively get emotion out of the audience. And I was just again like it's it's so impressive in a way that I won't be surprised if this guy makes a film in Western cinema at some point in the next twenty years. That's ten years, because I can't help but wonder if people on Netflix or producers stateside are going, oh my god, like have you seen this movie?

Like this guy's making the kind of movies that people in this country would love to watch, people in our country would love to watch, and you know, they would look past all of the bigger meaning and importance of this movie, because yeah, there's a guy fighting a fucking tiger fist fighting him and there's a lot more subtext to this movie. But like, this movie is totally the kind of thing that like American audience is already lining up to see. Oh yeah, can you imagine seeing this in a movie theater. God, crowd of people invest it in this movie. Oh yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean oh so like you know that, like I've mentioned, the Nacho dance is fucking amazing.

That's one thing where if you just are in a bad mood, you fast forward to that scene. You just watch that scene. You know. That's one of those things where if that segment ends up on YouTube, I'm watching it a thousand times. The other thing is when he shows up in that fucking lory and he's got all the animals, like, we don't know, like we saw him with the tiger, we don't know what he was doing with that tiger.

You see him like a scene where a guy's feeding the tiger, and you're just like, oh, he's got the tiger for some reason. And then when he shows up and not only he's got a tiger, he's got a jaguar, he's got stags, he's he's got this whole menagerie on the truck with him. And when he pulls and it stops and the tarp comes off and the slow motion hits he's jumping out and all the animals are coming towards the camera, and you get that side angle of all the animals coming and the musics pounding. I would be on my feet cheering my ass off from that movie theater because that is just so good. And then the mayhem after that.

Wow, when when when he fucking throws it like a cheetah at a guy, I'm like, what it's again? Like it like I'm saying, like it is just it's like primed already for someone in this people in this country to see it and just be like, like, that's the thing. This movie makes the Marvel movies look pedestrian. Oh yeah, Like and that's insanity to say, given the things that we've seen in those movies. But those Marvel movies, I've never seen somebody throw a tiger at someboddy.

No, I've never seen a stag stick its head through somebody's arms and wiggle around with them on it. And you know what, I've never seen a man riding a flaming marriage. Yes, five minutes after another guy flights through with animals in a van and he flies through on this flaming carriage after being bitten by a super poisonous, venomous snake and the carriage flips through the air and he's jumping and it's just oh. And you get that slow motiont of him walking towards the camera and it looks like fireworks going off behind him, the one that does the big circle behind him. I'm like, oh, yes, what's like in the US, We've never been as oppressed as the Indian people.

I don't think we could ever think of the emotions that are invested in this movie. You know, It's like, even in a pretend way, like Famo snaps away half the population, Loki wants to enslave people, he never does, Like, we never get to that state where people are that oppressed, where the stakes are anywhere near US high. It's like, okay, there's a big blue laser that's going off in New York City mean to trade. I don't care about that. But yet, if my entire country were being oppressed by this foreign rule that came in, and I mean maybe you get this little bit in some alien movies, but you never really get the scope of it, whereas with this I can feel it.

I feel just how awful this other force is coming in and just being racist as fuck about everybody, treating everybody like servants, treating people like pieces of shit. You know, I mean the guy getting passed over for promotion. It's like, okay, yeah, that's just one of a thousand humiliation he's going to go through. The guy just battled a thousand people for you British people and he gets passed over for a promotion. What and that is?

And you know, you mentioned kind of an important part of this kind of Indian cinema especially, and we talked we kind of mentioned Lagan a couple of times. And again there are plenty of them. Those are just the two that you know, this and that are the ones that come to mind off the top of the head. But the British raj existed until nineteen forty seven. Yeah, this is this is contemporary history.

Like this movie is not taking place in eighteen forty five. This movie takes place in like the nineteen twenties too. The British would do such fucked up things, just the fuck with people, like the whole idea of what was it. They would they would coat their bullets in pig fat when they were shooting at Muslim people because the Muslims were just like, if we get you know, hit with these, our souls are going to go straight to hell. And it's just like, yeah, they would just do that the fuck with people and just be complete assholes all the time.

Yeah, I mean, look, you know, I'm not the kind of person to drag some a country of people entirely because there are plenty of people in Britain who had nothing to do with oh god this, But yeah, the treatment of the Indian subcontinent by the British raj is just like you that we in the United States contemporarily have no frame of reference for them, right, and we never I mean hopefully we never will. I can't believe realistically in this day and age we would. But there are people in the world who deal with it obviously. But yeah, it's it's such a big part of this and it's a part that you can't overlook, and they don't, you know, Lagan takes it to task immediately this movie. The villains are the Brits, I mean one and they're paying it again pretty broadly as baddies.

And there's, like we've mentioned, there's like one somewhat sympathetic British character, but the rest of them are just some of them have mustaches that they're twirling, yes, you know, like Jesus Christ, the guy who plays essentially the second in command. Edward is just just like such a squirrelly, sad, miserable person and like the way his character he plays, His character in this movie is perfect because you're just like it. Like, like we mentioned, his character would feel at home in Lagan One. I talk a lot when whenever we talk about like samurai films or spaghetti westerns, I talk about that hero's journey and that moment when the hero gets the snot just completely beaten out of them. You know, you got Clint Eastwood and pretty much all of the Dollars movies, but especially I think Fistful of Dollars, same thing.

Obviously, since the remake of Your Jimbo, you've got poor Tashira Mufune getting the shit kicked out of him and that as well, and you get that so often. You know, you deal with Steven Seagal movies a lot. There's so much, especially in those early really good ones where he's down and out. You know that moment that reminded me of full Contact? What was it?

Was it above the Law where he just has completely has been in a coma and all that kind of stuff, and in full contact poor Challi and fans gotten a couple of his fingers blown off, has to relearn all that. In this movie, you get that twice because we have to have each one of our heroes getting the shit kicked out of them, and then it's the one dude doing it together. It's like, oh, man, and I you know what's funny is I actually really appreciated that kind of weird mirroring where Beam gets caught and Roger's kicking the shit out of him, and then Roger saves Beam, but Beam beats the shit out of him. He gets caught, and man, he he was in there for a while because unless Roger's hair grows real fast.

Oh yeah. But when they when they showed him, when they showed him in that in that cell with the long hair, I was like, dude, the fucking pump ups and the music starts again. The music just kicks in right there, and you're just like, oh boy, something's gonna happen. Yeah, And then you notice Ray Stevenson noticing why he's pulling up and what he's doing. Every time he pulls up, he's staring at the palace where they are.

It's just like, oh boy, you don't know what's coming your way. Pal. Oh yeah. But when you when they show him from behind and he's and it's they're talking and they're talking about him to him, and he's not responding, and it's just like, oh my god, he looks like a picture of vengeance. He's just ready.

He's just ready. Oh man. Yeah. And then when he breaks that the whole because essentially the last hour of the movie is the breakout from the palace from the barracks and you know, again, we we've talked a little bit about the initial fight scene with the tigers and all of that, but man, the end of the movie when they're in the jungle fighting is just oh when he shoots the arrow and it goes through the tree and the guy narrowly avoids getting hit in the head with the arrow, and then he fucking kicks the arrow and kicks it through the guy's head. Right, yes, thank you so much.

I was so happy about that. Or the fact that you think that beam is going to die. He's sitting there drinking water and they ambush him and he's, oh my god, who came up with it? He's drinking water with the you know, the jug or the gored a couple of feet above his head and you're pouring the water and the arrow goes through the water above his mouth to kill the guy who's about to shoot him. Like, guys, I don't think if you haven't seen this movie and you're still questioning seeing it, like this is like one of the things, like one of a hundred plus things that happens in this movie.

That's just like, yeah, like we meant we we didn't talk about the scene where Roju is driving to where Beam is going to be executed. This is kind of before where we were talking about before, and Ray Stevenson notices that he's getting kind of betrayed, and so somehow when his car gets hit by the tree that Rojus down, he pops into the air and he's standing on the like cars wine, one handing a gun. It's just, yeah, it's not everything. Everything that happens in this movie happens in the most epic way possible. I don't know how ill to explain it.

This is the most movie movie I've seen in a long time, right, Like that's kind of the best way of putting it. And I really expect this kind of film from like someone a lot less talented whose name is Snyder or Bay or any number of American cinema or American filmmakers who are just known for bombasted with no style or with no substance behind it? Right, were right? All style, no substance. I mean if this were if this were a Michael Bay or Zack Snyder film, I wouldn't care about those characters at the end of the movie.

No, I would have no interest in continuing this story of Raj and Beam any further than the end of the film. But like I've said, by the end of the movie, I'm like, I would watch two more of these movies, three more of these? Do you make this a series? Please? Like, I know that these are real people, but you know, like I hope people who make Indian cinema films like making money too, because you've now got a franchise that you can do some something with.

Yeah, but what would be the next one? What would it be called? It would it be four hours? Or would it be six? It would be six?

I love the title of this movie too, Like it's just it's triple r r r R. Why not? What's that? What's Because I like how initially the urs and story, the ours and fire, the urs and water, and then when they show us the title after they join hands in the water and it becomes the logo of the film, it's what rise, revolt and roar and roar. Yes, well, yeah, because all those animals, that's right, God, just the animal imagery in this movie, with the when they're fighting in the palace, in the initial kind of uh kind of scene where where a Beam is trying to save Molly, he has the scratches on his face.

Yes, it's there's again. Like it's it's such a stylistically interesting movie that I didn't expect it to have any substance, but then it has. I don't know it. It has so much substance that by the end, like I said, by the end of it, it's just like I want to watch this movie again. I want to watch this movie again.

Like you've mentioned, I've seen it two times off, but I want to watch it the third time because I'm sure that there will be other things that I notice this third time outside of the insane action. I mean, there's this is an action movie, but there are quiet scenes where these characters are just talking to each other and like being really emotionally vulnerable with each other in a way that again, in a lot of these, like Marvel movies, they undercut those scenes every time it happens. Somehow. A scene of a character going is the most tension I've seen in a movie in a while, where you're like, is he gonna get to him in time? Is he gonna save him in time?

When he's trying to find him underneath in the kind of underground cell like Marvel, take note, this is how you do an action movie with stakes, with with people playing characters that the audience is invested in, like here you go this, how you do it? Give them time to breathe? But there's like four I think there's like four action set pieces in this movie. Five five probably, yeah, I'd say, yeah, but like in a three hour movie, that might not seem like much, but one of them is in our long Oh yeah, well, and it's like, you know, Marvel goes. I love Marvel Marvel movies.

Not all of them, though, because then you get a movie like The Eternals where it's just like there's too much for room to breathe, there's not enough action, there's too many characters in this movie. It's three hours long. You get two main characters, you get a couple of villains, you get a couple supporting characters. I don't need to know the name of the guy who is throwing the meat to the tiger, or the guy might be the same guy the guy who throws the snake at them, And it's just like, yeah, I don't need to know these guys. They're important, but they're just here to serve a purpose, you know.

So yeah, I mean, I think the thing again, going back to Woo, the thing that I like about this that you're just kind of talking about, is that there's the melodrama that we're allowed to be very emotional, that we wear our feelings on our sleeve, that you know, that we have this romance that's going on. Just the idea of these two characters coming together and having this natural affinity basically is because they are both superheroes, that they are able to connect, to communicate from the bridge down to the crowd kind of thing they recognize you know, what was it like Game recognizes Game? You know, these guys have it exactly and you're you're completely right, and you know, I'm trying to think about like the last Marvel movie.

I watched Doctor Strange the Multiverse of Madness. None of the action in that movie is remotely memorable now. And there's like a point where there's like a giant octopus climbing on the outside of a building and Doctor Strange is hurling cars and stuff. It's like, man, that cost more. That whole scene cost god knows how much money, and they spend however long pre visiting and how and yet a shot of Raju with the spotlight behind him more.

It's more exciting for me than all of the action in Doctor Strange. The shot of Beam jumping out of that van with all those animals, it's just it's it's it feels so novel and fresh, and again it feels so culturally Indian. That's the other thing that's so important is this is not ss Rama Julie making a MCU film. He's making an Indian cinema film that's an action movie. And that's the other thing I really appreciate is ultimately, at its core an it is a film about two Indian characters, and it feels it it's very Indian, but it is not exclusive exclusionary.

I felt very I was able to relate to this right away, and he was able to just lead me into this and I was there for it. You know, I never felt like, what's going on here? What's going on? What's happening with this culture? And I have to now go to Wikipedia and look up the raj and all this kind of stuff.

No, you know, like if you know that stuff, great, you got a little background. Okay, perfect, But it's just it's such a whole piece that you don't necessarily need to know anything. You don't have to do outside reading for this. You know, you just come in. You're showing these guys, You're showing their motivation, you know where they're coming from.

And when you don't know where the one character is coming from, it makes it even better when you do find out where he's coming from, right, and that, yeah, you're completely right. That is the other big piece of this movie that you cannot ignore. It has a really good twist, like a really genuinely good twist that I kind of didn't see coming actually, like BRYCE should have, given that the character of Roju is so painted in a lovable and likable way, Like even though he is a badass that scares everybody, he's still painted in a way that it's like you can't help but love him, and you can't help but want to like smack him on the back and break your hand in doing so. Type well, yeah, I mean you and that initials.

I mean, I haven't seen a character introduced as well as Raju Is in a movie not a long time. That's scene at the beginning where he's fighting all those people. It's just like, this is how you introduce a character and just make without them uttering a single word, and you make them into just them. Like he's so badass that by the end of the movie he is the physical embodiment of rama and and you believe it. And the characters, the villains that are fighting him are just like terrified because because again, like he is a god made real he's shooting flaming arrows and people shooting arrows with grenades on them too.

Yes, I just like I said, like, there's so much in this movie. We're Brian, how are you going to talk about every single thing? Because it is a three hour long movie, But there's just so many things that it's like how he has nobody ever done this before? Right? That's like that that's my ultimate question here.

Is like, how is how have we not seen some of the things that we've seen in this movie? And then I realize it's because, like all of I don't want to be that guy, but all of a sudden, everything feels the same. And when you watch something like this, it's like, this feels so fresh even if we weren't getting all these MCU and DCU and big blockbuster movies that we are so accustomed to getting. Even if we weren't getting them, this would still feel so fresh and so new and exciting. And again, I can't help but sing the praises of the two leads enough.

I mean, they're both amazing. Yeah, they're so good. I would watch them in anything so charismatic, right, Yeah, you just feel for them so much. Yeah a Ramcharran as Raju. Yeah he's kind of a stoic badass, but then you understand it's kind of a facade, it's a little bit of a put on, and that he does have this really traumatic backstory.

I mean, Beam doesn't even have the backstory of that. Beam is kind of a cipher throughout the movie in a lot of ways, which is funny because again, like the movie is effectively trying to convince you through the first hour and a half this is Beams movie, but it is Roji's story. It totally is. Yeah, and that's the best twist of all. Yeah, I agree that is the best twist of the movie is that it is somewhat it is Raju's story almost entirely, but it but because of the storytelling I guess technique that they're using, it's it's he's defined by beam.

You know, beam helps right focus us. He's that diamond for the laser that helps us focus on what Raju really is, right and that and that, for me, I think is just it's such smart writing, and it's such a smart way of structuring your story. And what's interesting is the story is by one person and the dialogue is by someone else, which I think is it's something that is a thing that is in Indian cinema a lot, but you don't see that. You don't see that a lot, and you see it all in American cinema. But I wonder, is it do you do you perceive it to be the same way as story by screenplay by because that's not the way I interpret it.

No, No, I mean we probably have that more than we know of there's probably people that are just there for dialogue polishes or just they're known for their snappy dialogue. It's like, get me a shame black here. Yeah, I need somebody to punch this up, Like I don't care about like the action set pieces are great, but I need the quips, you know, I need the Stephen e the sus Is to come in here and give me the funny lines, right, and again, I don't know, I don't know if that's what this is, but it's interesting because again, the action is it feels like the action is written by someone who knows how to write action, and the dialogue is written by someone who knows how to write compelling character relationships.

And frankly, if that's what it is, it really works and it kind of makes sense in a compartmentalization of tasks way, if that makes sense. Like if I were to make a movie, I'm not sure I wouldn't want to do it any differently, like I want to find someone who knows how to write action set pieces because as opposed to it being on the page, then they fight. It's like this is all clearly very well mapped out ahead of time. Yeah yeah, but then it's like, but then I want someone to come in and really give me some hard hitting, punchy dialogue, and you get that too, So it's I know, you know, I was. I was talking with some of my Indian friends today and one of my I was, one of my friends, was like, did you like it?

I was like, yeah, it was a lot of fun. He was like, it was a little over the top for me. I was just like, so, you've got somebody's telling you it's over the top. I've got somebody telling me it's too violent, and it's just like but I meet it up and here we are reveling in it, like yeah, give me more, Like yeah, And that's the funny thing, Like I think I don't want to be those people, but we say it almost every single time we do one of these Indian cinema films. This just makes me want to watch more Indian cinema.

Yeah, oh yeah, Like I don't know how it couldn't want to see. Like you said, I want to see all the things I want to see every time these guys have been on screen because they are so compelling. I want to see more of the director's work. I want to see the writer's work, I just the composer. Everybody it's like, yes, please just give me more, give me more.

Yeah. And and for me, it's you know, it's it's this real fun opportunity with this show to watch these movies that are just this movie is just sitting on Netflix. People are going and watching what instead like you know what I mean, Like I feel like I feel like this movie is the kind of movie that I could tell even the most apprehensive of my friends to be like, you need to check this movie out, because I sent it. You know what I did. I sent a couple video clips of this movie.

When I was watching it. I was filming my screen and I was sending a couple of video clips to people that I know, and they were like, what movies this And I was like, triple R and you have to watch it and were like, yoh, what's what's it on. I was like, it's on Netflix, and they're okay, I'm watching it like that for me is a is a small litmus test for the Western audiences. And we talked about this on the first episode, Cullen and I did where it's you know there it's becoming more prevalent for Western audiences to have access to these movies, and now with like Netflix and streaming, there's no excuse anymore. But I am with you.

I hope that they make a sequel, and if they do make a sequel, I will go and see it in the theater. You will see me in the theater for this movie r R R two. I'll be there, no questions asked. It's amazing how this is broken through. Like every week I watch Honest trailers and I watch Pitch Meeting on YouTube.

I'm just like refreshing my computer at one o'clock on Tuesdays waiting for the new Honest trailer. I have yet to figure out what Ryan's schedule is with Pitch Meeting because everything's kind of fucked up with this channel. But hopefully eventually I'll realize what day time he drops new episodes. They both did episodes on Triple R, you know, and it's that well, it's it's so easy to get because of Netflix, but it was so popular and had so many people talking about it that they ended up doing it. The guys from Quarter Crew that do VFX artists react they did an episode on it.

So it's just like all of a sudden, it's just like in my wheelhouse and it's in my realm. Now I'm just getting all of these things where it's just like R R over and over and over again. And I think just Quarter Crew had their video out now, I was just like, I want to see what you guys are talking about, but I have to see the movie first. And again, it's on Netflix. It's so easy to get.

Yeah you can, you should and you will watch it, dear listener if you haven't. And this is the first movie that the first Indian cinema film that I have seen since DDLJ where I'm like, this movie is probably going to be popular for very long time. It's going to be well regarded for a very long time until the next one comes out. It's the most expensive Indian cinema film until the next one comes out. You know, Robo was an expensive Indian cinema film.

But people don't. People have differing opinions on it. Everything I've seen about this movie is like overwhelmingly positive. Oh yeah, everybody. Most of the reviews I've read have enjoyed it.

There have been some minor quibbles, and like you said, you talk to people that you know who have seen it. I talk to people who I know I've seen it. I'm not going to say that they're wrong, but that's what I wanted, So I can't complain about it. I can't say it didn't give me over the top action because it delivered that in spades. It's scratched such an itch that I didn't even know that I had agreed.

And by the end of it, again, do I want to see more action? Do I want to see more set pieces? Sure? What I really want to see are Rama Rao and Ram Charan again as those characters or in something else. That's all I want to see, because again, I love Ami Top, I love rajnikmp, I love SRK.

All of the Indian leads that I've seen I have fallen immensely in love with. And here's two more to add to the list. Yeah, that's you know that every time I watch one of these movies, all I can think is like, why do I watch anything else? Right, That's what it feels like in a way, like I know why I watched something else because these movies tend to be three hours long and that is a big time commitment. I mean, it just is like it feels it is a big time commitment, because three hours a lot of time, but when it flies by doesn't matter.

Right. Well, it's also nice too because I've noticed there used to be one movie theater near me that would show Indian films. Now it's almost every single movie theater near me has slots open for Indian films, which is fantastic. I know part of that is the pandemic effect and that there's not as much product out there, but I'm eating it up, you know. I'm just so glad when I can look at the local movie times on my app for AMC or m JR or any of these other theaters imagine, and it's just like, oh yeah, and there's this Indian film playing this weekend.

I'm like, thank you, this is wonderful. I agree with you one. I wish that they were showing him here in town. I do. I don't think we have a big enough Indian population in the Midwest where I live, unfortunately, which is a shame.

But I think they show him in Omaha. So there you go. And you know what, this movie is the kind of movie where you could show it in an American cinema. I would contend you could almost show this movie without subtitles if you really were help bent on it and still kind of understand what's going on. I mean, you'll undercut all of the emotional growth of the characters, but you can still see all the crazy stuff.

Yeah. Well, last night I started to watch it in Brazilian Portuguese. I did that by accident too. They must have like the defaults on or something, because I'm just like, they're not speaking Telugu. What the hell is this that I'm listening.

For a few minutes, I'm like, it sounds Spanish, No, not quite Spanish. And then finally I was like, oh, this is Portuguee. Why are they speaking Portuguese? When when Ray Stevenson's character said piece yes, I was like, Okay, this is definitely not Hindiyeah pretty far from Hindi. God.

You know what though, that that is the the other thing I do want to do. Did want to mention We mentioned Ray Stevenson once already, But I hope that more. I hope that more American actors go and work in Indian cinema because it's primarily British actors and like Australian actors, but like American actors. I have not seen a lot of American actors in Indian cinema, which is a a good thing because obviously, employ more Indian actors, please, But at the same time, it would be interesting to see. Yeah, even if it was a cameo, even if it was like Brad Pitt walks by or something.

R No, but yeah, I'm glad too that, you know, I didn't realize obviously that it was Ray Stevenson. I didn't realize it was Alison Duty because they're not taking the time to be like, oh, look at these people. Look at you, like, really shine that spotlight on them and be like, oh, look, here's this actor that you might know from something else, because probably people don't. You know, I'm sure there are tons of Indian people that have seen Indiana Jones in the Last Crusade, but it's not top of mind, and they're you know, these guys are playing the villains, and I'm absolutely fine with that. I kind of love that they are.

You know, there's not other than the one lady. There's not a heroic white person then here, right, And she's not some sort of white savior either. She's just as a tool for him to use to get to the next level. Yeah, no, I agree, Like I would like to see more white actors in Indian cinema. But at the same time, if it were to be something to what you're talking about, where it's like we're gonna make it a point, like I don't care.

I don't care that because like this is the right way to do it. Include them in a way that's like they're part of the movie as like a villain or as a cameo. But like, I don't want to see an Indian cinema film where there is an American actor or an English actor as the lead unless it unless it like because it could work, it could work, you know what, you know what, you could just spitballing here him. You could have essentially red heat but set in New Delhi or Mumbai, and it's and it's the character coming from the States to India, and that I would wash that movie. Yeah it's from rush Hour in India.

Yeah exactly, Like how has that not been made? Yeah, there's the there it is that that movie would kill because you know what, you get what you get whoever is the most charismatic American actor and then you just one American actor that's it, nobody else and then you just chok the movie full make it the most expensive Indian cinema film ever made because you include every single srk Rajni khan Ami, tab like Amer Khan, get him from the Forrest Gump movie that they're making, and like every buddy, just bringing everybody. I went out to eat the other day and at an Indian restaurant and there was just a huge TV and they were playing um it was essentially music videos, but a lot of them were just scenes from a movie right and there.

I'm looking up there and I'm just like, oh, okay, I know this guy. And then I see him. He's wearing a baseball cap, he's got the beard and stuff. I'm like, oh, this is from that Forrest Gump remake. Okay.

So I was trying to explain the official Forrest Gump remake. I was trying to explain that to Andrea and she's like, get out of town. How's that going to work? She's like the historical figures? Is he meaning like Indian historical figure stuff?

Like yea, yeah. I've heard that there's some controversies surrounding the movie. And I want to say Karina Kapoor was complaining that not enough people are going to see the movie, I think was the issue. But I want to watch it. Oh yeah, I am very oddly compelled because I imagine that the politics in it are much better than the politics and zamechass Well.

I mean, as you know what, as someone who recently read the book, I would actually suggest anybody who wants to know that story go read the book. The book's actually really good. I enjoyed the book immensely. The movie Maudlin and Saccharin and about as just melancholy as it can get. But I think the next time you and I do one of these episodes together, I think we should watch that movie.

If we can't. Yeah, sounds good. All of seeing Chadah with Amir Khan of all people who we've seen that a couple of times. You've seen him in Lagan, Yeah, I've seen him in Lagan and then Rungila, which is just what what can you say about Rangela? My god?

What's that one? The one? Uh well, Don Gali is fucking amazing in that. And then uh yeah, the one where is an alien? Is that Peku?

I think? So, yeah, yeah, I haven't seen that. I haven't seen that one. I've heard it's a lot of fun. Have you seen Three Idiots.

I haven't seen that one yet. Three It's is Three Idiots is amazing it Okay, it's about like three friends at it's it's it's kind of a takedown and a a hard look at the like Indian education system and how it like affects those who are inside of it and the expectations and stuff. It's it's a lot of fun. I did an episode on and I think last year or the year before again. But like there's so many of these movies like we're just scratching the surface.

Oh god, yes, yeah, yeah, but no, I'm you know, the Forest Gump remake, like the fact that it's a like official movie on top of everything else, Like it's you know, it's it's funny. Like we mentioned, like I expect that when when we watch that movie, there will be songs, there will be those things in that movie. This movie doesn't have it, and yet it's it's just it. This is this is the most movie, Like you said, this most movie movie I've seen in a long time. And this is one of the I don't want to say this is one of the best movies I've ever seen.

But I have not seen anything else like it, and that's a pretty big compliment given how many movies I've seen. I think you would agree with me, like we've seen things similar, but like something like this. I have never seen anything like this, And I can't wait to see what the director comes up with next, because if this movie in Bahubali are any indication of his previous body of work, he could only get better. So that for me is also immensely exciting. So Mike, for you final thoughts on Triple R, watch it.

That's all I can say. I mean, you have to see in this movie. It is so much fun. You know, when I had somebody described it was my friend Mike Thompson described The Killer to me is like it's the evil Dead of action films. Just to give me that mayhem and stylization, quick cutting, all these kind of things, he was able to paint a picture in my head with that.

I would say that this is very similar as far as just being such a cinematic experience, so much fun, so moving, You just experience every emotion while you're watching this. It's terrific. I think that is almost every Indian film that I've ever seen. You experience every emotion while watching it. And I think for me, that is what sparks so much joy inside of me when I think about watching these movies, is that just like, by the end of it, I'm like, I haven't seen anything like this.

I've never seen characters treated this way. I've never seen a movie approach these characters in this way. I've never seen anything like this. But and I say that every time, and I won't stop saying it because I feel like this is a privilege that we have access to these movies, that we have easy access to these movies because for so long, like you mentioned, when you were first starting doing podcasting or even trying to find these movies back in the late nineties early two thousands, there was no Netflix and streaming. How would you have ever seen any of this?

But now it's we have such a privilege that we can just turn on Netflix and see these movies. And it's not just our R it's a ton of things. Even though they've taken things off, there's still plenty. So I agree with you one percent. If you have heard about R R R, you've probably seen it at this point.

And if you haven't heard about it, and you've sat here through this entire episode and not watched it yet. Please do me a favor, Please do us a favor and go and enjoy one of the crazier movies that I have seen in a long time, and one of the best action movies I think of the last ten years. Yeah, you're not doing us a favor, You're doing yourself a favor exactly. So, Mike, until we until we record another one of these bad boys? Where can people find you?

What's going on over at the Projection Booth podcast? Oh gosh, Well, every week we're looking at a different film, trying to put in context, talk to some of the people behind it, have a good conversation about it, and just yeah, we're trying to be uh, you know, kind of the NPR of movie podcast, let's say, so, trying to do it up right. Give you something other than a couple of chuckle heads talking about movies. Whoa, yeah, what'd you like about that? Huh?

Maybe three chuckle heads? Oh wow, now you're pushing Where can people find that? Show? Mike rejection both podcast dot com and as for this show, Bollywood Cinema Club, you're already listening to it, so you know, where to find it for me se Stasha dot com. That's my link tree.

Go there if you like this show. I have done other episodes on the Culture Cast of Indian Cinema, but this is going to be the place where we talk about Indian cinema film a lot, almost primarily. I'm not saying I won't cover it on my own show, but there's no need to cover it on my show if we have a show all about it. So this is where you're gonna want to come to listen to more episodes of me talking about Indian cinema with a variety of guests. Michael pop in from time to time.

Hopefully it'll be some new people that I've never even talked to. So until then, Mike, I want to thank you for joining me for picking this movie. Well, thank you, Chris, thanks so much for having me on, and I'm so glad you're doing the show me too. It's again, this is only like the second or third episode I've recorded, but I feel like like we've barely barely scratched the surface, not even by I don't know where this show goes, but I'm excited, and this movie has made me even more excited. So Thank you Mike again for the for the suggestion and the pick because it was a good one.

So and yeah, I guess we'll catch you on the next episode.