peasants uprising led by the communists against the Nizamate. Bheem's legacy was largely ignored in the mainstream beyond the folk culture of the impoverished Adivasis of central eastern India and the Telangana movement in Andhra Pradesh. His marginalised status in Indian mainstream history contrasted with his idolisation as a revolutionary figure among Adivasis, for whom he became an exemplification of their own marginalised and exploited status in India even after independence. The slogan of Jal, Jangal, Zameen, symbolising a sentiment against encroachment and exploitation, has been adopted by Adivasi communities, particularly the Gonds for their social and political struggles, including as a war cry in the Naxalite–Maoist insurgency. In popular culture, the film Komaram Bheem (1990) directed by Allani Sridhar was created based on his life and won two Nandi Awards. In the 21st century, with growing support and prominence of the demand for the new state of Telangana, the legacy of Bheem was brought back into the spotlight and was featured in more mainstream political discourse and rhetoric. In 2011, the Andhra Pradesh government announced the construction of a dam and reservoir named Sri Komaram Bheem Project and the installation of a statue at Tank Bund Road in the city of Hyderabad. Following the establishment of the Telangana state in 2014, the state government allocated for the construction of a Komaram Bheem museum for tribal history at Jodeghat and a memorial at Jodeghat hill rock. The museum and memorial were inaugurated in 2016, and in the same year the Adilabad district was reorganised, part of it carved out as the Komaram Bheem district. The location near Jodeghat has become a major tourism destination in Telangana. In 2018, S. S. Rajamouli, the director of the Baahubali series, announced the film RRR to feature Komaram Bheem and his contemporary Alluri Sitarama Raju as characters, with N. T. Rama Rao Jr. playing the role of Bheem. The plot is a work of fiction depicting a friendship between the two contemporaries and taking place in the less documented part of their lives in the 1920s. References People from Hyderabad State People from Telangana 1900s births 1940 deaths Deaths by firearm in India People from Komaram Bheem district