Penned by Chandrabose and composed by MM Keeravani, the song competed against tracks including Taylor Swift’s ‘Carolina’ from Where the Crawdads Sing and Lady Gaga’s ‘Hold My Hand’ from Top Gun: Maverick.
The track Naatu Naatu from the Telugu epic action drama RRR, India’s official entry for the 2023 Academy Awards, bags the Golden Globes Award for Best Original Song.
Penned by Chandrabose, composed by M M Keeravaani, sung by Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava and choreographed by Prem Rakshith, the quirky tune instantly became a chartbuster among Indian fans when it was first released.
Keeravani has worked across industries – from Telugu to Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam. He has previously composed music for superhit movies including the Bahubali series.
Overwhelmed by the historical win, the composer thanked the actors, lyricist and director, with the words, “The award belongs to my brother and the director of the film S S Rajamouli for his vision and trust in my work.”
The song is a celebration of Indian culture and the lyrics beautifully describe the food, flora and fauna of the country. It comes at a point in the movie where the protagonists are ridiculed for lacking taste in dance and art.
Shot outside the Ukrainian president’s official residence, the song was shot 18 times before the makers finally zeroed in on the second take.
Naatu Naatu has also made history by becoming the first Asian song to win a Golden Globe and the first Indian song to be shortlisted for the Oscars.
Watch this video for some behind-the-scenes visuals of this smashing hit.
(Edited by Asha Prakash.)
