SS Rajamouli has given us another Jai-Veeru pair in RRR, says Javed Akhtar

At a party and press conference to celebrate the success of SS Rajamouli’s multi-lingual magnum opus RRR, legendary lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar heaped praise on the film. He pointed out that lots of films come and go, but RRR is not one of them.

"There are a few films, stars and directors who are remembered forever,” Javed Akhtar said. “They don’t become successful because of any amount of money at the box office. That is secondary. That you will forget. What you remember is that they became successful doing something that is unprecedented; which had never happened before.”

The makers at the event claimed that RRR had earned Rs1,000 crore at the world box office. Touching upon that, Javed Akhtar said, “Rajamouli saheb, it’s a great achievement to collect Rs1,000 crore for a film. But believe me, after 15, 20 or 25 years, they won’t remember this. But they will remember you, your work and your film.”

Elaborating, Akhtar continued, “Jayantibhai [producer Jayantilal Gada] should have called me after one week, because last night I have seen the film and I am still in shock and awe. Whatever you have done is unprecedented. It is a story that anybody could tell. But the way you have told this story, nobody in this country could have.”

Akhtar also compared the protagonists Ram (Ram Charan) and Bheem (Jr NTR) with the lead characters of the classic Sholay (1975), which he co-wrote with Salim Khan. “Besides giving a memorable film and a game-changer, you have given to the 21st century another pair of Jai and Veeru [the characters played, respectively, by Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra in the 1975 film],” he said.

Interestingly, RRR has a song named ‘Sholay’ that plays during the end credits.

Till yesterday, the Hindi version of the film had collected Rs201 crore nett at the domestic box office.