RRR, is it Bollywood, Telugu, or an Indian film?

When a film receives accolades, the territory to which it belongs is the happiest. Whether it’s an Indian, American, a Pakistani, or a British film, the film industry is desperate to seize control and claim ownership. The masterpiece created by Rajamouli is truly deserving of all praise, and the film has put us on the map, especially after winning at The Golden Globes. RRR recently won the Best Original Song award at the 2023 Golden Globe Awards for its song “Naatu Naatu”.

However, while we consider RRR to be an Indian film, it is originally a Telugu film. Yes, it is a Pan India film, and it falls under the category of Indian film, but it was crafted and put together by the Telugu film industry.

At a recent event, Rajamouli was quick to clarify that “RRR is a Telugu film, not a Bollywood film”. While Bollywood has become the centre of Indian filmmaking, other regional films are constantly side-lined and made to feel like extras. With the recognition of Pan Indian films, proud filmmakers are happily claiming their film’s identity, and rightly so, reserving the films originality is their right.

Soon after, there is a discussion on Twitter about how even south filmmakers are distancing themselves from Bollywood, but this is not the case. To put it simply, as a filmmaker, he merely stated that it is a South Indian film, which does not constitute a rude comment or cast a negative light on Bollywood. RRR could be misinterpreted as a Bollywood movie by people who don’t live in India; and clearing that is director’s sole right.

Bollywood is a popular term and usually because of its popularity it tends to hog the limelight unintentionally. Clearing the air also throws light that people in west will also discover that there are multiple industries within India and not just Bollywood.
However, after a long time, industry, other than the Hindi fraternity, is finally getting their due respect, so claiming that isn’t wrong either. However, given that the filmmaker was promoting his film on a global scale, it would have been nice if he had also mentioned RRR as an Indian film.

However, on Twitter, some people allege that while promoting the movie RRR in Mumbai, it was always advertised as a Pan India picture and that it isn’t appropriate to label it only a Telugu movie at this point, given the movie is headed for the Oscars.

To be fair, it was about time to let the world know that India produces more than just Bollywood movies. However, rather than just calling it a Telugu movie and leaving it at that, it would have been wonderful to see him also acknowledge it as an Indian movie.