RRR director says the US reception inspired the sequel

RRR has become one of the biggest films of the year. The action epic centers on two real-life Indian revolutionaries, Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem, their fictional friendship, and their fight against the British colonizers. With over-the-top action and outrageous sequences that continuously go to the next level, RRR wasn’t only just a success in India, but in other countries as well. Director S.S. Rajamouli confirmed that an RRR sequel was in development last month, and recently told Deadline that it was the international reaction, particularly in America, that inspired the sequel.

“Whenever a film succeeds, as writers, me, my father, my cousin, we sit and we discuss whether it can be taken forward,” S.S. Rajamouli said. “We usually have some good ideas because we’re high on the success of the film. The same thing happened with RRR. There were some good ideas, but not a compelling one. Then, after coming to the U.S. and seeing the reaction, I was talking about my experiences to my father, and suddenly my cousin came up with an idea. I thought, ‘Wow, this is a great idea — this has to be developed into a script!’ So, I asked my father to write a script based on that fantastic idea, and now he’s in the process of developing it. Once it becomes a full script, we’ll look into how to take it forward.” Rajamouli confirmed that the RRR sequel will follow the same characters but couldn’t say anything more.

Rajamouli explained that while audiences dancing, shouting, clapping, and whistling during a movie is something he regularly sees in India, that same reaction isn’t exactly typical in America. “[To] see that happen with a Western audience is really unbelievable!” Rajamouli said. “I saw it firsthand in New York. They didn’t dance, but they were laughing and clapping. Then we traveled to LA and I saw it in the TCL Chinese IMAX Theatre with almost 1,000 people, 90% of them Americans. And they were shouting exactly the same way how we would shout in the theater. And then the ‘Naatu Naatu’ song came on. I saw them coming down the aisle, to the space in front of the screen, and dancing. I was on top of the world. And after that I saw it many times in Chicago, in San Francisco… In different screenings across the country, I saw the same kind of reception. It felt really, really felt great.” RRR stands as the most expensive Indian movie of all time at $72 million, and if Rajamouli could pull off what he did at that price, I can’t imagine what goodies he has in store for what will surely be an even bigger sequel.