Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komuram Bheem in RRR: Behind the movie
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Rajamouli's latest film RRR is one of the biggest films in India released after a wait of four and a half years after its announcement.
The film tells the life story of two real heroes of Indian history, Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komuram Bhim.
The producers call the film "a fictional story of the Indian revolutionaries of the 1920s".
Director SS Rajamouli had earlier said that the film shows the lives of two unrecorded heroes through the same period.
Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komuram Bheem fought for the forest rights of the adivasis in the areas now adjoining Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
In Telangana, Asifabad district has been named in honor of 'Komuram Bheem'.
It was also decided to name a new district comprising the Araku Valley after Alluri Sitarama Raju.
Both areas are predominantly tribal.
Alluri Sitarama Raju
It is said that Alluri Sitarama Raju was born on July 4, 1897 in the village of Mogallu in West Godavari district to Venkata Rama Raju and Surya Narayanamma.
Although he was not an adivasi, he was known as 'Manyam Veerudu' or 'Hero of the Forest'.
Sitarama led the Ramba Rebellion of 1922 against the Madras Forest Act of the British Raj of 1882 which regulated the land rights of the tribals.
Sitarama Raju had a great zeal to fight against British oppression from his childhood.
At the age of 13, when given a handful of badges with a picture of King George to wear, Sitarama Raju threw away all but one and pinned the last one to his own shirt.
“Wearing this shows our slavery.
But at the age of 13 he said that I stuck it in my shirt close to my heart to remind you all that a foreign ruler is ruining our lives.
He traveled extensively during his adolescence and is said to have been deeply influenced by the socio-economic conditions under British rule, especially the tribal areas.
He returned to the tribal-majority tribal areas near Visakhapatnam and Godavari and began to work among the adivasis and mobilize them against the atrocities of the British police, forest and revenue officials.
The Ramba region was home to a number of tribes who practiced 'Podu' farming ....
The Madras Forest Act of 1882 barred them from engaging in paddy cultivation and restricted their freedom of movement. Their main purpose was to clear the forests.
During the 'Ramba' Rebellion from August 1922 to May 1924, several tribals led by Sitarama Raju fought against the British forces.
After fighting with a bow and arrow, Sitarama Raju attacked the police stations.
The British government then announced a reward of 10,000 rupees for Sitarama Raju's head.
Several forces were deployed to prevent the riots. He was finally arrested and executed on May 7, 1924, and many of his followers were executed and imprisoned on treason charges.
മു Komuram Bhim
Komaram Bhim was a respected leader from the Gond community in Telangana.
He led an agitation against the last Nizam of Hyderabad in the early 1900s and against the exploitation of local landlords.
Bhim also has the historical motto of 'Jal Jungle Zameen' which has been widely echoed in the tribal movements.
Although his date of birth is not clear, he is believed to have been born around 1900.
Compared to Sitarama Raju, the details of Beam's life are very few.
Akash Poyam, a scholar from the Gond tribe of Chhattisgarh, writes that despite being one of the great tribal leaders, Bhima's story has been erased from the history books.
Bhim was born in Sankepalli in the old Adilabad district.
It was later divided into Asifabad district.
Translations from Arun Kumar Maipathy's book, which chronicles Bhim's life, say that Bhim's childhood did not have much contact with the outside world.
He grew up hearing stories of forest-police officers, businessmen and zamindars exploiting the adivasis.
It also mentions that the Nizam officials confiscated the crops produced by the adivasis through their claim to forest land.
It also mentions the persecution and assault on tribal people, forced tax collection and looting.
According to Arun Kumar's book, Bhim's father was killed by forest officials for advocating for tribal rights, after which Bhim moved from Sankepally to Sartapur.
He fled to Chandrapur after the Gonds (adivasi men), who had been harassed by a Nizam official in the name of taxes, fell into Bhim's hands.
He was taken by the owner of a printing press which publishes a magazine against the British and the Nizam.
From there he learned English, Hindi and Urdu.
He also worked in the tea estates of Assam for four and a half years.
There he was arrested for protesting against the plantation owners for the rights of the workers.
Although Bhim does not say that he met Sitarama Raju in person, he does say that he heard about Bhim Sitarama Raju while he was in Assam.
He later returned to Adilabad, mobilized the adivasis and started agitating against the Nizam government.
Based in the village of Jodhpur, he led a guerrilla war against the Nizam's army from 1928 to 1940.
He demanded a separate Gond kingdom independent of the Nizam.
Unable to quell the riots, the Nizam government plotted to assassinate him.
According to a report by journalist Harpal Singh, on October 18, 1940, three years after the riots began, police cordoned off Jodhpur in search of Bhim.
Bhim and his helpers refused to surrender as they resisted with axes, sickles and bamboo sticks.
At the end of the encounter, Nizam officials opened fire and killed Bhim and several others.
Akash Poyam says that the giant's body was shot "until it became like a filter".
This is not the first time historical figures have been portrayed on screen.
Alluri Sitarama Raju was released in 1974 and starred Krishna, Vijaya Nirmala and Jaggayya.
Bhim's story has been told before in the 1990 Telugu film Komuram Bhim directed by Allani Sridhar.
In interviews, the director talks about the film's team spending time with the Gond communities in Adilabad and consulting with community leaders while making the film.
The film has won two Nandi Awards, the state awards for excellence in Telugu cinema.
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