RRR(2022)

Pooper:
Raju helps Bheem escape British custody but gets captured in the process. Bheem then returns the favor, freeing Raju and helping him find his path as a fellow freedom-fighter. The two men then take down Governor Buxton and the British forces.

Long Ending:
This is a highly fictionalized story of two real-life Indian freedom-fighters.

In the 1920s, India is ruled by Britain. It’s led by sadistic Governor Scott Buxton (Ray Stevenson) and his wife Catherine (Alison Doody), who view Indian people as little more than trash. Indeed, Governor Scott refuses to let his soldiers shoot Indian people because he says the cost of a British-made bullet is more than the life of the Indian (thus, his soldiers are ordered to beat Indian people to death). One night while journeying through the jungle, Catherine abducts a young girl named Malli (Twinkle Sharma) from her village so that Malli can serve as her personal manicurist and singer. The small town reaches out to their guardian, a man named Komaram Bheem (N. T. Rama Rao Jr.), to rescue Malli.

When Gov. Scott learns that Bheem is trying to rescue Malli, he addresses his police forces and promises to promote whoever captures Bheem to the position of royal special forces. An Indian man named Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan) vows to capture Bheem. Raju has proven himself a dependable officer and fierce warrior, but has consistently been passed over for promotion in favor of British citizens.

Bheem goes undercover in order to locate where the Buxton family is holding Malli. Raju also goes undercover in order to more effectively search for Bheem. The two meet (both use false names) and become best friends. They work together to save a young child from a train accident and Raju also helps Bheem romance Jennifer (Olivia Morris), the Buxtons’ niece and a genuinely kind person who respects the Indian people and their customs.

After Jennifer invites Bheem to the governor’s mansion, he is able to locate Malli and decides to enact a plan (alongside his family) to rescue her. That same day, Raju finally manages to capture Bheem’s brother (who he had identified earlier as a suspect) and interrogates him. Bheem’s brother gets a venomous snake to bite Raju. Knowing he’s lost, Raju frees the brother before stumbling to Bheem’s house. Bheem is able to develop an antivenom before joining his family for the assault on the governor’s mansion. Bheem also confides to his best friend Raju (still not knowing Raju is a police officer) of who he really is and of his mission, feeling guilty that Raju almost died not knowing Bheem’s true identity. Bheem and his family then attack the mansion, releasing numerous hungry wild animals to fight the soldiers and cause a distraction. Bheem almost manages to rescue Malli when a recovered Raju shows up at the scene and captures him (revealing himself as a police officer). Bheem is taken into custody and Raju is promoted.

We then learn about Raju’s past. Raju’s father was a soldier under Gov. Scott who grew disgusted about how his people were treated. Raju’s father was training his village to rebel against the British, but needed to find a way to get guns for his freedom fighters. The British learn about the village’s planned resistance and launch a peremptory attack. In the fight, young Raju shows an incredible talent for marksmanship and he and his father alone are able to hold off the British forces long enough for most of the villagers to escape. However, Raju’s mother and one of his siblings are killed during the skirmish and his father is gravely wounded. Raju swears an oath to his father to obtain the firearms they need so they can continue the struggle. Once he reaches adulthood, Raju leaves to keep his promise by infiltrating the royal special forces, even leaving behind his wife Sita (Alia Batt) to do it. If he becomes a member of the royal special forces, Raju will have access to the British armories and guns stored therein. Having captured Bheem, Raju is promoted and now has access to the British armories and begins concocting a plan to steal weapons. But he feels conflicted over betraying his true friend (and abusing many Indians as part of his work for the police).

Raju is ordered by Gov. Scott to bring Bheem to the city center and force him to confess to his crimes and kneel to the British flag. Raju and other soldiers mercilessly whip Bheem, but he refuses to kneel. Instead, Bheem sings a song of resistance and the Indian onlookers riot in an unsuccessful effort to free him. Raju himself is so inspired by Bheem that he knows he must free Bheem even if it costs him his own life and plan. Raju says that Bheem’s ability to inspire is more powerful than any amount of weapons he is able to steal. Raju convinces Gov. Scott to move Bheem’s execution to a forested area (knowing Bheem can escape the British forces in the forest) and convinces Catherine to bring Malli to “witness the execution.” However, Raju enacts a secret plan that allows Bheem to escape his bonds (Bheem himself doesn’t realize his freedom was orchestrated by Raju) and Bheem manages to successfully recover Malli and flee into the forest. Raju is identified as a traitor, arrested, and sentenced to death in a few months.

Bheem reunites with his family and journeys across the country to reunite Malli with her village. Along the way, they coincidentally meet with Sita, who saves their lives from some soldiers and then tells them her husband’s story. Bheem realizes that Raju must have sacrificed himself to free him and decides to return to the capital to rescue Raju. With Jennifer’s help, Bheem infiltrates the prison and frees Raju. The pair embrace and express their admiration and friendship for each other. Together, they attack the Governor’s mansion (with Raju adopting a bow and arrow and traditional Indian garb at Bheem’s suggestion to inspire others). They blow up the mansion (Catherine is killed when she falls into barbed wire) and then shoot Governor Scott with one of his own British bullets (using his own words against him, noting that if an Indian man is not worth a British bullet, then surely a British man is). Raju reunites with Sita and the film ends with a traditional dance with all the main characters.