A partially deaf hero, a reconstructed 1980s village, Godavari voices and a camera designed to stay inside the action all served the same plan: make a giant star look like he belonged to one specific place.
RRR opened at blockbuster scale in India, then found an unexpectedly large second audience through international word of mouth, streaming and an awards run that ended with an Oscar for Naatu Naatu.
Chiranjeevi later admitted he wondered whether fans would still be waiting after his political stint. His 150th film turned that uncertainty into one of Telugu cinema’s biggest comeback events.