‘Heartwarming to get Hollywood’s respect’: Ram Charan speaks on RRR to ABC News

Ahead of the Oscar award ceremony to be held on March 12 in Los Angeles, Tollywood actor Ram Charan is all busy interacting with the press and sharing his experiences with media houses in New York. In a recent video interview with ABC News, Ram Charan said that he has learned from SS Rajamouli, the director of RRR, that cinema doesn't have a language, and that it is the emotion that makes a film what it is.

RRR (2022) is a Telugu-language action drama set in the backdrop of the pre-independence era, revolving around two fictional freedom fighters, Alluri Seetharama Raju and Komaram Bheem. The film was very well-received both in and outside of India, and the popular song ‘Naatu Naatu’ won Best Original Song at the Golden Globes. The song has also been nominated for the Oscars. Meanwhile, Ram Charan has been nominated for the Critic Choice Award in the ‘Best Actor in an Action movie’ category, and the award ceremony is set to be held on March 16. Here are the snippets from the interview Ram Charan gave ABC News.

It has been a long journey to bring 'RRR' out into the world. How do you describe the whole process?

Just when we thought we have achieved so much, after the film was well received in India and we were all satisfied and overwhelmed with the response in India and the East, it's such an overwhelming feeling (to be accepted in the West as well). It is kind of real but also unreal (that our movie has travelled to parts of the Western world). 

Did you ever dream of having this kind of "Hollywood success"?

I don't know if I can call it a Hollywood success, but I think Hollywood has a big heart to accept international films and respect other films as much as they respect their own films. To get that kind of response and acknowledgment for RRR from an industry we have always respected is really heartening. 

‘Naatu Naatu' has been nominated for Best Original Song at the Oscars. How was shooting for it like in Ukraine?

We filmed it three months before the Ukraine war began. Thanks to the song, I discovered that Ukraine is one of the most beautiful places and experiences I had. I wanted to take time and go there as a tourist again. We shot the song at the Mariinsky Palace for over 15 days, after 7 days of rehearsals. It was one of the most difficult songs we ever shot. 

What would your feeling be if 'Naatu Naatu' bags the Oscar?

I will be the happiest. They will have to wake me up and ask me to go and collect it! I will be happy for India. It's a decades-old film industry that we have in our country. For the first time, a song from our country has been nominated, and I don't think it will just be our success, but the success of the Indian film industry itself. I am not saying this because it feels good, I really mean it. A lot of people's emotions and cultures put together is what 'Naatu Naatu' is about. 

I think it's a great space that we are all in right now. It's a great time to be a part of this journey of an Indian film reaching the Academy Awards. More than an achievement, it is a responsibility. I just don't want it to end as a one-time wonder. I want it to become a consistent process. We want to come back to the Golden Globes and Oscars again and again. 

What is cinema for you?

My director SS Rajamouli always says cinema doesn't have a language. It's the emotion that makes a film a film. RRR is one of his best works as a writer with his father, Vijayendra Prasad. Cinema is an emotional language and RRR is the kind of film that has made people dance, laugh, and cry. It has got hero-elevation scenes. It has got everything. 

On Indian diversity and cinema

India is a very diverse country. We always say we have unity in diversity. All cultures are so beautiful. Predominantly, the language used is Hindi and so everybody thinks Bollywood gets the utmost visibility. But all states in India make fantastic movies, movies that win National Awards. Our films have got exposure across cultures. RRR is a subject in which sentimentality is rooted. We Indians love our family and when you love your family, you are emotional. 

On wanting to do films across the world

I am committed to doing a couple of projects in India for now. But I am looking at working outside India as well. I want the directors here (in the West) to experience the talent in India. We hope we get calls from here!