The filmmaker was named the recipient of the award earlier this month and received it in person on Wednesday evening at a gala held at New York’s TAO Downtown Restaurant.
New Delhi: SS Rajamouli, the best director winner at the New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) Awards for “RRR”, has thanked the organisation for appreciating his “small film from the south of India”.
The filmmaker was named the recipient of the award earlier this month and received it in person on Wednesday evening at a gala held at New York’s TAO Downtown Restaurant.
“RRR” is a pre-independence fictional story based on two real-life Indian revolutionaries from the 1920s, Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem, played by Ram Charan and Jr NTR, respectively.
It is an honour to receive this award from you. It means a lot to me. You have honoured my entire cast and crew and brought a lot of attention to a small film from the south of India. Many people don’t know that such a field exists but because of this, now I am sure many people will look at it,” Rajamouli said in his acceptance speech, the videos of which were shared by the official Twitter handle of “RRR”.
The period action epic, which has earned over Rs 1,200 crore in reported earnings since its March release, has received rave reviews not only at home but also from the who’s who of world cinema, including “Guardians of the Galaxy” director James Gunn.
In his speech, Rajamouli expressed his gratitude for the film’s love and appreciation. Recalling his experience of watching James Cameron’s “Terminator 2: Judgement Day” in a cinema hall, the director said he could see the same “joy” on the faces of the audiences while watching “RRR”.
“The expressions on the audience’s faces… It was pure delight and awe. We could tell what they were thinking by looking at their faces. ‘What the hell did we just witness?’ This is exactly what I’m looking for from my audience… “The pure joy of seeing the film in the theatre,” he added.
The filmmaker, who is also vying for a Critics Choice Award in the best director category, said he is grateful to the cast and crew of “RRR” for helping him “achieve whatever successes I have had”.
The award season will continue for the magnum opus as the film is also nominated for two Golden Globe Awards in best non-English language film and best original song – motion picture for “Naatu Naatu”. In addition, “RRR” has been nominated for four Critics Choice Awards: best picture, best foreign language film, best song, and best visual effects.
The Telugu track “Naatu Naatu” from the blockbuster is also on the Oscar shortlist, which was announced last month. It was written by Kala Bhairava and Rahul Sipligunj and composed by veteran music director MM Keeravaani.
