Earlier today, ‘Naatu Naatu’ made history by being the first Indian movie to be nominated and ultimately, winning the Oscar for the Best Original Song.
Composer M M Keeravani, along with lyricist Chandrabose, went to accept the honor on behalf of the team. Keeravani, during his speech, broke into song. He sang his own iteration of The Carpenters’s song ‘Top of the World’, changing some of the lyrics to express how RRR had become the pride of the nation and how, at that moment, he felt on top of the world. He also expressed how much of a proud moment it was for India and how in a few short months, RRR had become something India had become incredibly proud of the movie.
Their reaction on winning for Naatu Naatu
In the press session after winning the Oscar, Chandrabose commented how difficult it was to write the song in Telugu, which has 56 letters in total and how the music of the song has been able to secure a special place in Hollywood’s heart and soul, in spite of them not understanding the meaning behind the words. And for that he credits Keeravani.
Naatu Naatu, in this category, was nominated alongside Rihanna’s Lift Me Up from the movie Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Lady Gaga’s Hold Me Up from Top Gun: Maverick, Mitski This is a life from ‘Everything Everywhere all at once’ and Diane Warren’s Applause from Tell it like a Woman. Naatu Naatu managed to win against heavy hitters such as Lady Gaga and Rihanna, proving how impactful the song managed to be.
Naatu Naatu was also performed live at the Dolby Theatre by singers Kaala Bhairava and Rahul Sipligunj with dancers performing the steps which have now become synonymous with even the movie RRR. The performance introduced by Deepika Padukone, an Academy member, got a rousing applause by the audience, even getting a standing ovation from eminent actors like Colin Farell.
Indian films gaining recognition
It was a particularly significant night for India as Guneet Monga and Kartiki Gonsalves also won in the Best Documentary Short category for their documentary ‘The Elephant Whisperers’, making history as the first Oscar won by an Indian for production.
Reactions from celebrities in India
These wins garnered a lot of love and wishes from the Indian acting community. Popular actor Chiranjeevi sent out a tweet congratulating the two productions for making the country proud of such an eminent global platform. Alia Bhatt, a cast member of RRR, took to Instagram to express her excitement over RRR winning an Oscar.
Even Shah Rukh Khan congratulated the teams of The Elephant Whisperers and RRR for ‘showing us all, the way to do it’. He also called the wins ‘truly inspirational’ for the entire country. Even megastar Rajnikanth congratulated the RRR team for receiving the ‘prestigious Oscars Award’.
RRR has been a box office and a critical darling from the moment it hit theaters here in India. It was a much anticipated movie by director S S Rajamouli as this was his first film after the humongous Bahubali 2 hit cinemas. RRR slowly started gaining traction even in the West when it was released in limited theaters for its inventive action and its ‘banger’ songs with the accompanying dance moves. Since then RRR has come a long way.
From Rajamouli winning the Best Director Award at the New York Critics Circle beating out auteurs like Steven Spielberg and The Daniels, to re-releasing RRR across the US and India before and during Oscars season, RRR has surely come a long way.
