‘RRR’ Gets Celebratory New Trailer for Re-Release

Ahead of the re-release of director S.S. Rajamouli’s smash hit Indian Telugu-language film RRR, domestic distributor Variance Films has unveiled a new trailer. Highlighting all the praise that the film has accumulated over the last year, the trailer features several fan-favorite moments, including the epic pre-interval action sequence with all those animals, and the climactic fight set in a forest.

Along the way, we also get glimpses of the memorable first meeting of the film’s two protagonists — freedom fighters Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem — and the film’s euphoric centerpiece song, “Naatu Naatu.” The song, as the trailer highlights, has already won a Golden Globe and a Critics Choice Award. “Naatu Naatu” has also scored the film’s sole nomination at the upcoming Oscars. In fact, that’s primarily the reason behind RRR’s re-release in theaters. The film was initially released in March 2022.

RRR’s awards campaign only gained steam after it became a word-of-mouth hit in the U.S. following a Netflix debut. Prior to that, RRR had done respectable business at the box office (it was a massive hit in India), but it subsequently became a phenomenon thanks to some high-profile endorsements from big-name filmmakers such as Edgar Wright, Scott Derrickson and James Gunn. More recently, directors James Cameron and Steven Spielberg have both praised the film’s inventive action and absorbing story. Their comments have proudly been plastered in the new trailer, along with several other blurbs from prominent publications.

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Set during the pre-independence era, RRR tells a fictional story of two freedom fighters whose paths never crossed in real life. In the film, Raju and Bheem forge an unlikely friendship as they join hands — quite literally — to take on the mighty British Empire years before India would gain independence in 1947. RRR is among the biggest hits to ever emerge out of India, and certainly the first to make such a broad impact among Western audiences.

Rajamouli, who’s something of a hit-maker in his home country — he has to his credit three of the top-grossing Indian movies of all time — garnered newfound international recognition after RRR’s global success. While RRR has been massively praised by both fans and critics — hence, the new re-release — the film has also attracted criticism from some quarters for its perceived right-wing politics, which in the context of modern India could be seen as problematic. Certainly, Rajamouli’s comments in a recent New Yorker interview didn’t help alleviate this perception.

But there’s a reason why RRR has become such a global rage — the film’s evolution from a cultural curiosity to a full-blown event was largely organic. People really seem to like it, and they’re especially fond of watching it in a packed theater, where the atmosphere can sometimes become as electric as it usually is in India. “Bring a friend,” the new trailer instructs fans.

RRR hails from the Telugu-language industry based in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, which shouldn’t be confused for the Hindi-language industry — more popularly known as Bollywood — which is based in the city of Mumbai. India has several local language industries that work largely independently of each other, although the occasional crossover hit is common.

Starring Ram Charan, Jr. NTR, Ray Stevenson, Alison Doody, Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn, RRR will be re-released in 200 nationwide theaters on March 3. The re-release will be kicked-off on March 1 with a special screening at The Theater at Ace Hotel with special appearances by Rajamouli, the film’s composer M.M. Keeravaani, Charan, and others. You can watch the new trailer here, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.