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Who cares if they used Blender or Maya. As an Indian (and a South Indian at that), I must say I’m embarrassed at the level of attention this movie is getting fo
by krama 4y ago
Who cares if they used Blender or Maya. As an Indian (and a South Indian at that), I must say I’m embarrassed at the level of attention this movie is getting for its over the top use of cringey special effects. There are so many other worthwhile Indian films to watch and enjoy.
- tandr 4y agoWhat would you recommend to watch instead?
- krama 4y agoGiven the number of movies made and regions, and decades, I’d run out of breath. But I’d start here. Malayalam Films : Known for their subtlety and craft in film making, and obsession with crime novels. Dhrishyam part 1 & 2 are like no movies I’ve seen in Hollywood. Hindi Films: Or Bollywood movies, known for their big stars, great attention to set pieces of grand dance sequence s and decent romantic comedies / sports movies. Hard to pick one as nothing has shined recently. I’d give “Zindagi Na milega dubara” / “Chak dhe” a look. Again nothing spectacular recently unless you want to watch a classic from the seventies “Sholay” Tamil movies : Gritty movies about inner city gangs / social upheaval or focus on stellar music/dance romantic comedies and major action blockbusters. From recent years I’d give “Vada Chennai”, or “Vikram Vedha” a chance for gritty urban movies. Or just the most recent action blockbuster “Vikram”. Which has a really good score. Telugu movies (the original language for RRR) : I’d give “Pushpa” a look before watching CGI drenched RRR.
- sremani 4y agoNah Bro.. RRR beats all the 3rd rate movies you have mentioned for global audiences.. this coming from a guy who loved Pushpa more than RRR.
- bhupy 4y ago> Hard to pick one as nothing has shined recently. I’d give “Zindagi Na milega dubara” / “Chak dhe” a look. +1 for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara - one of my all time favorites. For a more recent Bollywood film, Kapoor and Sons is pretty good.
- prashantsengar 4y agoI will also add "Andhadhun" to the list of bollywood movies. One of the best movies I have ever seen.
- bergenty 4y agoMalayalam films really are something else. For everyone else that isn’t Indian, the trope is Bollywood copies Malayalam films (who are known to have fantastic character development and original stories) and makes them over the top ridiculous, campy and throws in sappy love songs with a bigger budget. It’s kind of like the book was better than the movie argument.
- samarthr1 4y agoSecond the reco for Pushpa. It has really nice music, which is _mildly_ inappropriate for children (assuming you know telugu, or the song gets subs/dubbed)
- never_inline 4y agoUgramm (Kannada), Maanagaram (Tamil) and Aiyappanum Koshiyum (Malayalam) from top of my mind. Note there are critically acclaimed Malayalam Movies that not everyone would like (Eg: Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum, Maheshinte Prathikaram), they are so slow paced that average viewer would doze off. There's a perception that more realistic is always better. But that's not always true. IMO Tamil middle budget movies get pacing better than Malayalam, for average audience at least.
- splintercell 4y ago> “Zindagi Na milega dubara” Yeah this movie was made for a very specific audience going through a certain age and point in life, ('buddy road movie' but made for Indian millennials) hardly a great work of art. First it was 'Dil Chahta Hai', when the Indian millennials were of college age or around that time. A movie about three friends hanging out and dreaming of the future they will have with the kind of partners they would hope to be with. 'Zindagi Na milega dobara' is about a early-mid career Indian millennials facing marriage, work issues. It's not a bad movie but the popularity and greatness of it comes from it being apropos for Indian millennials. On the top of that there is a 'class' thing going on here, where RRR's target audience is a different class, and have an Inglorious Bastard style experience. Just like 'Dil Chahta Hai'/'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara' are for the educated millennials class.
- lenocinor 4y agoI appreciate your comment and insight. But I’m an American Gen-Xer and I enjoyed Zindagi Na Milega Dobara very much. So it can appeal to other people too. For other folks reading I always recommend Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ) as the Bollywood movie to start with. It’s a bit silly and over the top (especially the fight sequences) but it has a lot of heart. I miss old Bollywood movies like this that actually had lots of singing and dancing. And it set a record for most Filmfare awards won when it came out so critics obviously liked it too. Sometimes I wish people would talk about really old Bollywood too. Old Devdas, Barsaat, etc. There are some great movies there. I like Satyajit Ray a lot too (I know he isn’t Bollywood) but I wish people could see greatness in old Bollywood as well. I just rewatched Guide recently for example. Still a good movie.
- deskamess 4y agoI am partial to #Home - an intergenerational dramedy (Malayalam, Amazon Prime).
- karanmg 4y agoDelhi Belly for sure!
- perfectstorm 4y agoIf you have Hulu watch Drishyam (Malayalam) and its sequel on Amazon prime Drishyam 2.
- unmole 4y ago> embarrassed Why are you embarassed?
- krama 4y ago
- paisawalla 4y agoIndian action films typically don't strive for believable action scenes, like American films do. Instead, they apply the effects and stunts excessively -- they go over the top in a major way. The embarrassment is for the comparably unsophisticated tastes, and I don't share the feeling but I can understand. It's like everyone discovering that your uncle is addicted to something cheap and insubstantial that only children like, like junk food.
- tomcam 4y agoSome of us are very happy to pay for entertainment like that. I consider this exuberant style a worthwhile niche of its own, like wire work in Asian films.
- krama 4y agoExactly. When I saw the reaction to RRR, I was reminded of how “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon” was received in the US back then. It would be akin to an Asian / Indian audience only watching A sub genre of movies made in Hollywood.
- dsign 4y ago> Indian action films typically don't strive for believable action scenes, like American films do. I'm taking your "believable American action scenes" with a big semi full of salt.
- CrazyStat 4y ago>a big semi full of salt Let's have the semi jump off the end of an unfinished highway overpass and do a barrel roll. While the truck is slo-mo flying through the air we'll cut to a ground shot of a middle-aged dad about to salt some meat on the grill, but the barrel-rolling truck overhead spills just the perfect amount of salt on his burgers so he just looks up and shrugs. Finally we'll cut back to the massive explosion as the truck hits the ground.
- bergenty 4y agoI think I understand what you’re saying but it was a large spanning tale and though there may be some parts that are cringey I thought overall it kept my interest and had something for everyone.
- krama 4y agoI agree that RRR has its place. Like so many other Avenger style genre movies. The problem is that it just advances a stereotype and bias about what an American audience expects when they sit down to watch a Korean film, or a Chinese film, or an Indian film. They are all just films, just like Hollywood makes different genres, these countries make films in every genre. At least the Indian film industry is a behemoth large enough to be able to make movies in every genre.
- UncleMeat 4y agoShould a movie largely intended for a domestic audience be responsible for not fitting into a foreign stereotype of the domestic movie industry, largely held by people who have seen literally zero movies made in India? If Americans want to decide that all movies produced in India are huge over the top ridiculous action-fests interspersed with dance sequences then that's their own problem.
- firasd 4y agoYeah I have some mixed feelings. It's good that an Indian movie is breaking over to such significant consciousness in the US but a lot of the interest is like gawking. Like: 'OMG a tiger is jumping out of a truck with the hero, I'm laughing' So as an Indian I feel like this shouldn't be generalized as the 'image' in people's minds of what an Indian movie is. The over the top parts should be considered as a genre of its own
- nyokodo 4y ago> So as an Indian I feel like this shouldn't be generalized as the 'image' in people's minds of what an Indian movie is. We’ll do that as long as you do us a similar favor for Michael Bay and Roland Emmerich.
- dereg 4y agoDon’t worry, I don’t think Americans started thinking that, in movies, all Chinese people should fly after watching Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- pdntspa 4y agoThe effects sequences I saw in the video clip didn't look over the top... Besides what's wrong with a little ridiculousness? Some of the special FX I've seen in memes of indian movies look like they take a decent amount of imagination to visualize Note that I have not seen any indian cinema, no idea where to start with that, other than to say that the Bollywood format (and musicals in general) has little appeal to me...
- firasd 4y agoBollywood movies aren't really musicals. The way I would put it is that musicals are a genre, and Bollywood movies are all sorts of genres with songs interspersed. So you could literally edit out (or more practically, forward through) all the songs and fully watch the movie which is not really possible with musicals
- athulp 4y ago
- sremani 4y agoIndian Cinema and esp. Telugu Cinema has its own style of story telling, remember this is make believe. I find it refreshing as a Telugu speaking American that they are staying true to their traditions. The Bombay production houses have gone Hollywood-lite making movies for affluent westernized Indian class which as it turns out is not profitable. I am for artsy Indian movies but at the end of the day, this is commercial undertaking and the film crew and its producers should make money out of it.
- basti724 4y agoReally weird that we're reviewing a movie on a tech platform. Also, your comment suggests a need for western validation which I think is not needed for Asian cinema. I just enjoy Chinese and Korean cinema for the way they are. I searched for this film and seems its loved a lot by westerners too. Sorry if I misunderstood you buddy!
- pen2l 4y agoRelatedly, I’ve come full circle on my feelings when it comes to Indian movies. I grew up with Bollywood/lollywood movies, and pretty much stopped watching all of this silly stuff upon arriving to America and thought the breaking out in a song in the middle of things was absurd. I don’t know what changed but now I’m not just down with it I’m actually a big fan. I’m there to be entertained - give me Gesamtkunstwerk; I’ll suspend belief for those few brief moments, give me wonderful melodies and over-the-top sights. All types of art each have their place! I mean, we put up with soliloquys in Shakespeare plays, we cherish fanciful wordplay, why not give me songs!
- pen2l 4y agoBelated correction (sorry, wrote it on a smartphone!): s/belief/disbelief/
- shp0ngle 4y agoFor what it’s worth I love all S S Rajamouli movies I have seen. And like them or not, they are crazy successful. (I haven’t seen this one yet though)
- TaylorAlexander 4y agoI care! As an open source advocate, it is important to me to see Blender being used in successful feature films, regardless of the artistic merits of the film itself.
- akritrime 4y agoWhy? I am so tired of certain section of Indians online pretending that somehow all entertainment should be dictated as per their sensibilities of what's acceptable and what's not. What's wrong in having movies that are over the top? Everyone has different tastes. What's worthwhile for you maybe boring for someone else. I am not saying you have to start appreciating RRR if it's not something that you enjoy, but don't invalidate an experience that millions of people clearly enjoyed. I can appreciate a K Balachander, Gopalkrishnan, Satyajit Ray masterpiece while also hooting for Bheem in RRR. The greatest achievement of Indian cinema is how varied our repertoire is and there is something for everyone to enjoy. Celebrate it, don't be embarrassed about it.
- bozhark 4y agowhat would you recommend? overthetop cgi is equated with bollywood, to my knowledge
- unmole 4y ago> overthetop cgi is equated with bollywood, to my knowledge No. The overwhelming majority of Bollywood movies don't have much CGI. And RRR isn't a Bollywood movie to begin with.
- gamblor956 4y agoAgreed, while the movie was fun to watch, the FX are quite poor compared to US films. In terms of something American viewers would understand: it's about the equivalent of a Disney Plus show like the Mandalorian or Ms Marvel. As far as FX quality goes, the recently released Bhramastra sets the high watermark for Indian films. The FX are Hollywood level...probably because it's made by Disney's Indian film studios (Star Studios) and the FX were outsourced to some of the same FX studios working on Marvel films. (And as a side bonus, there isn't any of the weird fetishization of British/white women or obsequious political pandering to the India's current ultra-nationalist government like there are in RRR.) As an example of the difference in FX quality: in RRR, you're always aware of the artificial nature of the CGI because it doesn't "blend" into the world around it; the CGI sits on top of the world and is clearly separate from the action on screen. The animal FX are especially bad. In Bhramastra, the "astra" that give people various powers blend in with, light up, and shade the world around them even though they're purely CGI.
- fractalb 4y agoYou didn’t like the film and a lot of others did. What’s cringey about it? Different people different tastes. I for one enjoyed it. And enjoyment is what I go to a movie for.