Alternate Best Actor 2022: Ram Charan & N.T. Rama Rao Jr. in RRR

Ram Charan and N.T. Rama Rao Jr did not receive Oscar nominations for portraying Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem respectively in RRR. 

RRR is a hyper-stylized film about two hyper-powered men during the time of British Imperialism in India. 

Although I wouldn't say my knowledge of Indian cinema is that deep, I'd argue a bit better than the average westerner, however common from what I've seen is the mixing of genres within a singular film, even from that RRR seems a particular extreme even in that regard. It is a dramatic, and at times brutal, Braveheart-style tale of a freedom fighter, it is a wild Fast and Furious-style reality-defying stunt set piece, it is a romantic comedy, it is a joyful musical, and a few more things than that. What is impressive is that all these works are at their extreme and an essential aspect of why that does fall to the performances of Ram Charan and N.T. Rama Rao Jr. Their performances basically must also be all these tones and genres leads of each type of genre as per needed for any given aspect of the film. The two begin from very different places however each initially portrays a sort of the most intense aspects of their characters. Rao begins as a man from a rural tribe determined to find his sister who has been captured by the villainous British. We find him as he's literally capturing a tiger for part of his quest. And in this aspect, this is largely not Rao's presence in the role of Bheem. This is kind of what we eventually see is kind of his fight mode. His fight mode though is that of a very intense pointed quality that shows the man really as his most focused. It is the right offering as it makes Bheem's manner clear as a man you do not want to mess with but is not vicious in that intensity. That is different from as we see Ram Charan as an Indian soldier in the British colonial army who single handed quashes an uprising. Charan's performance now is as intense as you could name any brutal thriller as his eyes are piercing, and on his side in this vicious sense of a man with purpose. Both Charan and Rao are intense, but what is impressive is the way they are intense in very different ways as one is a man with a specific family mission against Charan who at first seems as though he's set up against the world entirely. 

The men, despite being seemingly on opposite sides of a potential conflict, end up becoming friends by chance after a most epic rescue that involves one of the most epic handshakes in cinematic history. And with that, we get perhaps one of the strongest aspects which is the bromantic power the two have in their chemistry with one another. The two in a way take upon a bit of a city/country mouse kind of thing as Charan's Raju and Bheem take on a natural chemistry with one another that just is really a constant exuding of warmth between the two in their interactions. The slight difference being Raju occasionally shows Bheem the ropes about something as Bheem is out of his setting compared to the more seasoned Raju. As much as the two were so convincing when they were intense they are as convincing when they are just being easygoing. The two really manage to bring you into the endearing energy they share together and it is hard not to believe them instantly as an ideal friendship, even while they are technically seemingly dramatically opposed. There is more to this than just a positive outgoing quality though as we see the dynamic between the two as Bheem tries to talk, to the degree that he can due to the language barrier, to an Englishwoman he chances upon. Rao manages to find just the right preciousness in his portrayal of the rather meek way in which Bheem approaches this, and portrays sort of that shy insecurity in a way that is once again very endearing. This particularly contrasts well against Charan's performance that always exudes a tremendous amount of confidence but in turn, when we see him encouraging and advising Bheem, it is conveyed with both a real sense of wisdom on how to project confidence but also this sense of unguarded support towards a friend. 

Within this aspect is the highlight of the film where Bheem and Raju take on the pompous British in a dance off "Naatu Naatu". Something we also get in the closing number "Sholay" is the level of exuberance rarely seen in any performance, and we get that times two here with Rao and Charan. It isn't just that they sing and dance, they sing and dance with as much intensity as they do anything else in the film, except the purpose here is for the sake of just being purely joyous. And the thing is, it is hard not to get caught up with that energy when watching them as the joy is truly infectious as they make for an extremely entertaining pair just to watch have fun in this way. In a weird way, their dance scene doesn't feel like a show-off moment, but rather like a let's all have fun together moment where they bring you into just enjoying the moment with them because their expression of the moment is so very pure. And pure together, as again that bond the two actors establish really is just so very powerful, making everything seem tragic early on as we know the two are on opposite sides, but they don't. And it is an example where earnestness to the extreme works because the two of them are earnest in such an effectively sincere way. When we see Rao playing so shyly, and Charan having that confidence between the two, it is hard not to just see the best for them because every moment of it just feels right even as it is extreme in this sense. We even have a theoretical very melodramatic situation as Raju gets poisoned and finds out that Bheem is a man he is supposed to stop as a soldier. And Charan's quiet reaction of heartbreak very much goes right for the most obvious heartstring, but it is a time when that heartstring is just the right one to be played. 

That is again combined though with the two as these pure action hero types who must also sell every dramatic swing, of which there are many. Both are a bit different in this sense, and again an effective contrast between the two. Rao's performance is consistent as the humble warrior with conviction. His conviction though is very specific in showing it from this modest sort of emotional drive which he depicts well in his one scene in showing his sorrow in seeing his caged sister, and just overwhelming passion as the man of attack. His scenes of action are very specific with this sort of controlled power of the man with this sort of righteous energy that defines him. Rao's performance is effectively straightforward in the right way where he shows really the power in the character's singular conviction to his particular cause that is more so defined by family than anything. Against that is Charan's performance which works in contrast as the more complex depiction of the man really has two shades constantly, and again this singular intensity could be of the villain or of a proper naturally violently inclined protagonist. Charan effectively plays this note and doesn't skim over it showing really the sense of a more pointed manner, that often is speaking two things at once. One is often the friend, with the man trying to find the man, who is his friend, or later when we see him with the British, he presents the perfect soldier, but his eyes always denote that there is definitely more going on. And that is the case as we eventually learn that he too is fighting against the British but in the form of an extremely long-game attempt to try to get weapons for his home army to fight the British. This works as a revelation of a man of the intensity of a man with a singular purpose, but who has also been holding in so much. When the revelation happens it does work because Charan reveals that the intensity was for that purpose, and not for being any sort of brutal investigator. Although I wouldn't say this film gets into too much of the deep problems of being so deep cover, Charan in what the film needs delivers well on a sense of that even if we don't dive beyond a certain point with that. Eventually, the two men do come together, and it completely works because the friendship was so real we just naturally see the two become a team with their intensity coming together in a cathartic act of the two teaming up to take down the British. And with each man, we see their separate power in a way with Rao depicting that kind of more controlled power of Rheem against the more firebrand quality of Raju. The two become proper William Wallaceesque freedom fighters that are extremely easy to root for as they take down their oppressors. Both excel in this ending action, but they really excel in every disparate aspect of the film. The two ease every transition themselves because they sell every aspect with as much heart and passion as possible. Both are intense heroes, charming romantic leads, and wonderful song and dance men. There is no split, they are all of it, and they do it together.