SS Rajamouli bags best director award at New York Film Critics Circle for 'RRR'

Filmmaker SS Rajamouli has bagged the best director award at the New York Film Critics Circle as his film "RRR" continues to make waves in the Western markets.

The winners were announced by the New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) on Friday night on its social media platforms.

The official Twitter handle of "RRR" also shared the news of Rajamouli's win at the movie gala.

"@SSRajamouli wins the prestigious New York Film Critics Circle Award for the Best Director! @NYFCC Words can't do justice to describe how happy and proud we are... Our heartfelt thanks to the jury for recognising #RRRMovie" read the tweet.

A pre-Independence fictional story, "RRR" stars Ram Charan and Jr NTR as real-life Indian revolutionaries in the 1920s Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem, respectively.

Jr NTR congratulated Rajamouli on Twitter and said the filmmaker's win at the NYFCC marks the beginning of his "journey to worldwide glory".

"It's time for the world to know what I knew about you all along," he added.

Released theatrically in March, "RRR" raised over Rs 1,200 crore at the global box office. The Hindi version of the film premiered on Netflix on May 20 and soon became the most popular movie from India on the streamer globally.

As the film reached overseas territories, it received praise from the who's who of Hollywood such as Edgar Wright, "Doctor Strange" director Scott Derrickson and writer C Robert Cargill, Joe Dante of "Gremlins" fame, "Guardians of the Galaxy" films director James Gunn, "Dune" screenwriter Jon Spaihts, filmmaker Christopher Miller and "The Gray Man" directors Anthony and Joe Russo.

In the US, "RRR" is being distributed by Variance Films, which has mounted a substantial campaign to have the film recognised in the general categories including best picture, according to entertainment news outlet Variety.

The New York Film Critics Circle also unveiled winners for other categories with Todd Field's "Tar" taking home the Best Picture trophy and lead star Cate Blanchett winning the Best Actress award.

The Best Actor award went to Colin Farrell for his performances in Kogonada's "After Yang" and Martin McDonagh's "The Banshees of Inisherin".

Ke Huy Quan won the Best Supporting Actor for "Everything Everywhere All At Once" and "Nope" star Keke Palmer bagged the Best Supporting Actress award.