'Naatu Naatu' from 'RRR' creates Oscar history, wins Best Original Song
Naatu Naatu, the peppy, foot-tapping chartbuster from SS Rajamouli’s Telugu period action film RRR, waltzed its way to history by becoming the first Indian track to win the Academy Award in the Best Original Song category. Naatu Naatu, Naacho Naacho in Hindi, is composed by MM Keeravaani and penned by Chandrabose.
“I grew up listening to The Carpenters and now here I am with the Oscars. There was only one wish on my mind, so was Rajamouli’s and our families’ — RRR has to win…,” Keeravani said while Chandrabose simply signed off with a namaste.
Naatu Naatu was nominated alongside Applause from Tell It Like a Woman, Hold My Hand from Top Gun: Maverick, Lift Me Up from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and This Is a Life from Everything Everywhere All at Once.
This is the third major international recognition for the Telugu song after Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award wins. The film’s team described the win as a ‘surreal moment’.
RRR lead actor Ram Charan took to his Twitter account and shared a long note which he captioned, “We have won!! We have won as Indian cinema! We won as a country! The Oscar Award is coming home!” Charan wrote.” Naatu Naatu celebrates the inclusive spirit of dance and features Charan and Jr NTR matching steps to its catchy rhythm. The title of the track translates to bucolic in Telugu. It demonstrates the spirit of fun in country music in its runtime of 4.35 minutes. Jai Ho from the 2008 British film Slumdog Millionaire, directed by Danny Boyle, was the first Hindi song to win an Academy Award in the Best Original Score and Original Song categories. It was composed by AR Rahman and penned by Gulzar.
Father-son bonding
It’s even more special for the father and son —music director M.M. Keeravani and playback singer Kaala Bhairava—who have worked on Naatu Naatu. While Keeravani composed the music for the iconic song, Kaala lent his voice, along with singer Rahul Sipligunj. The 95th Oscar Awards show featured both of them, albeit at different points of time.
Live performance applauded
Naatu Naatu singers Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava received a standing ovation at Oscars 2023. The singers gave a live performance at the 95th Academy Awards. It was a goosebump moment for all when Naatu Naatu took over the Oscars stage with American dancers doing full justice to the track. American actor-dancer Lauren Gottlieb also grooved on the track. Actress Deepika Padukone introduced the song to the audience and called it a ‘banger’. The audience loved Rahul and Kaala’s performance as they all stood up from their seats and applauded them. — IANS
