All Awards And Accolades S.S. Rajamouli’s ‘RRR’ Has Received At The International Arena

S.S. Rajamouli’s magnum opus “RRR” has been making waves in western countries since its release on Netflix back in late May. “RRR” was already a blockbuster in India when it was first released on March 25. But it was after the release on Netflix that “RRR” started to attract eyeballs from the west.

During the initial days of Netflix’s release, some prominent online personalities took notice of this gigantic movie. The positive word of mouth started to spread even further when big western media outlets like Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Rolling Stone, Empire Magazine, etc. reviewed “RRR ” and lauded it as one of the best films of 2022. That caught the attention of A-list Hollywood directors like Scott Derrickson, James Gunn, Edgar Wright, Sam Raimi, Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, etc. The director of “Doctor Strange,” Scott Derrickson, said he absolutely loved “RRR ” and described it as an awesomely outrageous roller coaster of a movie. I tagged James Gunn (director of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise) on Scott Derrickson’s twitter and asked him to watch “RRR,” to which Gunn replied that he had already watched it and totally dug it. English filmmaker Edgar Wright (director of “Shaun of the Dead” and “Baby Driver”) found “RRR” to be very entertaining and described it as the only film he has ever seen where the audience applauded the intermission card. He also asked people who were attending London Film Festival 2022, to watch “RRR”.

The positive word of mouth from the film community, online personalities, and media outlets, along with high praise from writers and directors, created an unimaginable buzz in the west, something that had never been seen before for an Indian film. The U.S. distributor “Variance Films” re-released “RRR” in the United States, and it was a huge success. With more and more people seeing it, the conversation around its award possibilities started to come to the forefront. 

It all started when the “Hollywood Critics’ Association” named “RRR” the runner-up for Best Picture at their mid-season awards. Then when “RRR” got three nominations, including Best International Picture, and Best Director at the prestigious Saturn Awards, the RRR team took its award possibilities seriously. But “RRR” was not eligible to compete in the Best International Feature category, as the Film Federation of India submitted “The Last Film Show” as India’s official entry into the Oscars. So, “Variance Films” launched a full-scale “For Your Consideration” Oscar campaign for “RRR” in 15 general categories, including Best Picture and Best Director.

The award season starts in early December, and to everyone’s surprise, S.S. Rajamouli beat the likes of Steven Spielberg to win the Best Director award at the New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC). 16 NYFCC winners in the last 22 years have gotten Oscar nominations for best director. Rajamouli was the runner-up in the “Los Angeles Film Critics Circle” (LAFCA) and was nominated for Best Director at the prestigious “Critics Choice Awards” (CCA). The music director of “RRR,” Mr. M.M. Keeravani, got even more recognition in this award season, where the score of “RRR” was awarded the best prize at LAFCA and also won in the original song category at one of the biggest and most prestigious awards shows like the Golden Globes and the Critics’ Choice Awards. “RRR” won several Best International Picture awards in various critic circles. It was also nominated for Best Picture at the “National Board of Review,” “Critics Choice Awards,” etc. “RRR” also popped up in the “Top 10 films of 2022” list of various prominent magazines and media outlets.

As of writing this article, “RRR” has a whopping 95% critics’ rating from 92 reviews on “Rotten Tomatoes” and a mammoth 4.2 out of 5 stars on “Letterboxd.” As of now, “RRR” has more than 160 nominations and more than 42 wins in various international award shows. The results of many award shows are yet to come out. So the final numbers would be much higher. After so much global recognition, it would be interesting to see how many nominations “RRR” can get. So far, it has been shortlisted in the original song category. Oscar nominations will be announced on January 24 at 5:30 a.m. PST and 7 p.m. IST. 

RRR – All International Awards (As Of January 22, 2023)

Awards Tally Of 2022 Films

Best Picture

Best International Feature

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