Director S.S. Rajamouli’s RRR — an action fantasy about a pair of Indian revolutionaries teaming up to topple the British Empire — is an unprecedented crossover smash, shattering box office records in India and abroad. The Telugu-language (or “Tollywood”) blockbuster combines bravado, friendship and musical mayhem, and it has received the kind of widespread global adoration usually reserved for Hollywood franchises. If RRR was your first foray into Tollywood or other Indian cinema, welcome! India has dozens of different film industries, and a litany of styles ranging from understated and nuanced to action-heavy and deliciously melodramatic. To keep the party going, read on for what to watch next.

The Baahubali series

Baahubali: The Beginning (English Version)

It doesn’t get much more RRR-esque than Rajamouli’s Baahubali: The Beginning and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, a pair of enormously successful sword-and-sandal fantasies that exemplify the director’s blend of fantastical action and die-hard emotional sincerity. Set in the ancient kingdom of Mahishmati and filmed in both Tamil and Telugu, the duology stars Telugu actor Prabhas as the long-lost warrior prince Mahendra Baahubali (as well as Mahendra’s father, Amarendra) in a tale that combines narrative elements of Hindu scripture with the visual splendor of classic Biblical epics. However, what makes the Baahubali films uniquely Rajamouli — other than the booming, operatic music by RRR composer M.M. Keeravani — is the brazen creativity that goes into staging each action montage. War epics could all use more scenes where entire battalions are catapulted through the air.  

Baahubali: The Beginning (English Version)

2h 17m   TV-14   2015

Remind Me

Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (Hindi Version)

Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (Hindi Version)

2h 45m   TV-MA   2017

Remind Me

Lagaan

If you found RRR’s anti-colonial fantasy invigorating, then Ashutosh Gowariker’s Lagaan might be up your alley. The 2001 Bollywood cricket musical — does it get more Indian than that? — was the country’s most recent nomination for best foreign language film at the Academy Awards (No Man’s Land, from Bosnia, took home the honor that year). With the talents of legendary composer A.R. Rahman in tow, Gowariker crafts a touching, melodramatic 19th-century saga about a drought-ridden village in central India whose residents (led by mega-star Aamir Khan) battle their oppressors on the cricket field. If they win, they’ll be freed from taxation for three whole years. If they lose? Well, Paul Blackthorne’s venomous British officer Captain Russell puts it succinctly, in his now iconic line: “Teen guna lagaan... triple tax.” The stakes are intense, and they pay off in raucous fashion.  

Lagaan

3h 43m   PG   2001

Remind Me

The Legend of Bhagat Singh

In the closing credits of RRR, best friends Ram (Ram Charan) and Bheem (N.T. Rama Rao, Jr.) dance in front of portraits of Indian freedom fighters, including folk hero Bhagat Singh. In The Legend of Bhagat Singh, directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, Singh is played by Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn, who RRR fans may recognize as Ram’s father. A much more grounded (and realistic) anti-colonial movie than either RRR or Lagaan, Santoshi’s Legend was actually one of three Hindi-language Bhagat Singh biopics released in 2002, but what makes it stand out is its music ( Rahman once again tugs at the heartstrings) and its clever narrative structure. It reveals Bhagat’s grisly fate at the hands of the British Empire in its opening scenes, which re-contextualizes his tragic martyrdom through the 1920s.

The Legend of Bhagat Singh

2h 35m   TV-MA   2002

Remind Me

Sivaji

Director S. Shankar’s 2007 Tamil-language film Sivaji: The Boss may not be directly related to RRR, but the Tamil-language film industry it belongs to deserves its own segue, given its many stylistic similarities to Tollywood. Not only does it feature music by Rahman — his 100th movie soundtrack! — but it stars one of the most charming and revered performers in all of Indian action cinema, Rajinikanth, whose very presence is a franchise unto itself. (You’ve never seen a man look this cool while popping gum into his mouth.) If RRR left you hungry for more outrageous action heroes, then “Super Star Rajni” is your guy, and the unapologetically physics-bending Sivaji is a fantastic gateway to his work. Its story may be simple (the villain’s evil scheme involves tax evasion), but the delightfully loopy action scenes feature everything from katanas slashing through lead pipes to jazz instruments shoved in places they shouldn’t be.

Sivaji

3h 0m   TV-14   2007

Remind Me

Gangubai Kathiawadi

Like RRR, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 2022 Hindi drama Gangubai Kathiawadi is a vivid period piece with a cameo appearance from Devgn, but it also happens to star Alia Bhatt — who plays Ram’s love interest, Sita, in RRR — as the titular Gangubai. Based on a true story, the film follows a woman who, after being sold to a brothel at a young age, blazes a path in politics with the help of a local gangster (Devgn) and begins fighting for the rights of her fellow sex workers. Combining Bhansali’s luscious set designs with the slick energy of a seedy crime thriller, Gangubai is a story of surprising contrasts. It retrofits appeals for sex-worker rights into cinema that upholds tradition, as if to convince people that Indian culture’s most maligned women don’t just deserve a new place in society but, rather, a place that’s already been rightfully theirs.

Gangubai Kathiawadi

2h 33m   TV-MA   2022

My List

Watch