Could South Indian action epic RRR ride its global popularity to Oscar glory?

Miranda Halfyard had no idea what she was getting into when her film critic father took her to a Toronto screening of South Indian action epic RRR last year.

She soon found out: The three-hour, Telugu-language film is at once a fiery saga of mighty scope (an early scene shows a soldier single-handedly battling a horde of 1,000 men) with heart-stopping action sequences (a man is chased by a ferocious tiger through a jungle before he subdues it), as much as it is a historical drama with vibrant displays of music and dance.

"I sat down and I was tired, but instantly, the second it started playing, the adrenaline was up and it kind of just stayed up the whole time," said Halfyard, an 18-year-old University of Guelph student. 

"My heart was beating really fast," she said. "I was on the edge of my seat."

All of that is to say, RRR is amassing fans all over the world, taking in more than $150 million US at the global box office since March 2022. It's an international hit with the kind of horsepower that could send it all the way to the Oscars this year.

One of the most expensive films ever made in India, RRR (rise, roar, revolt) is set in 1920s pre-independent India. It tells the story of a merciless British officer, Raju, and a small village warrior, Bheem, who become unlikely friends — they just don't realize that one has been ordered to track down and kill the other.

RRR's momentum has so far carried it through awards season, as organizations like the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards have given the action-packed film its roses — particularly for its mid-film earworm Naatu Naatu, which has bested submissions by Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Taylor Swift as an original song contender.

But these are comparably small potatoes ahead of Tuesday morning's Oscar nominations, where RRR could be the rare film from Tollywood — the Telugu-language film industry — celebrated during Hollywood's biggest night, according to Clayton Davis, senior awards editor at Variety. 

"I wish and hope and pray that the Academy can be so cool to nominate something so great in the best picture race," Davis said, noting that a best picture nomination is "on the table" for RRR. Naatu Naatu is likely a shoe-in for best original song. 

"There definitely is an international outlook from the industry and particularly the Academy," Davis said. "They've done a great job of expanding. Their voting demographic does include a lot of international members now, and they would be more open to something like RRR."

The film probably won't be recognized in the technical categories, nor for its acting and screenwriting, he said. It still faces an uphill battle — and not just because it's three hours long. 

Non-English language films typically have harder times with the Academy, Davis said, even though they have embraced more non-English language titles, including films like 2019's Parasite and 2018's Roma.

"The cultural zeitgeist that RRR is tapped into is what's kept it alive in the race."

Just ask Ryan Cultrera, a fan who attended a bonkers screening of RRR at the famed TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles earlier this month. Over 900 people attended the screening, which sold out in 93 seconds, according to Variety.