‘RRR’ memes are insensitive, offensive

‘Roudram Ranam Rudhiram’ has won the hearts of millions of fans. So, it is natural that the Rajamouli directorial has caught the imagination of meme-makers as well.

For the past few days, several memes have surfaced across social media platforms. In the name of fun, some of them don’t remember that ‘RRR’ is a film about two patriotic Indians standing up to British brutalities. As such, seeing Indian characters being made fun of in the name of humour is hardly hilarious.

A meme draws its material from Puri Jagannadh’s ‘Neninthe’. We see Venu Madhav saying that you should shut your mouth when you are in deep sh*t. This is in reference to the Gond girl Malli being abducted by the British official who notices her because she sings in his presence. Had the girl kept mum, she wouldn’t have been abducted, is the implication of the meme. This is as insensitive as it can get, for it blames an Indian for her unspeakable plight. 

Another scene uses the train scene from ‘Venky’, where Malli is played by Brahmanandam and Scott, the bully, is played by Ravi Teja. This is a direct insult to an Indian and an unabashed normalization of a villainous British character.

A meme mimics a scene from ‘King’. Komaram Bheem is Brahmi when he asks Alluri to make him educated in the climax. Srinivas Reddy’s character says, “You want to be educated so you can speak to Jenny, right?” Again, this meme brings down the dignity of the patriotic character. 

Telugu meme-makers are usually the best in India. But there is a limit they shouldn’t have crossed.