Oscars 2023: RRR’s ‘Naatu Naatu’ wins Best Original Song at the 95th Academy Awards, MM Keeravani sings ode to India on stage

RRR song “Naatu Naatu” has won the Oscar for Best Original Song at the 95th Academy Awards. Composed by MM Keeravani, with lyrics by Chandrabose and vocals by Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava, the song became massively popular soon after its release in March 2022. After SS Rajamouli film’s release on OTT platforms, it got a global reach and the song has since received a lot of love from the foreign audiences as well. In his acceptance speech, Keeravani sang a self-composed song in honour of Rajamouli, and the entire nation of India.

Earlier this year, Naatu Naatu won in the same category at the Golden Globes. It also won Best Song at the Critics’ Choice Awards and the Hollywood Critics Association.

The song is competing against Applause from Tell It like a Woman (Diane Warren), Hold My Hand from Top Gun Maverick (Lady Gaga and BloodPop), Lift Me Up from Black Panther Wakanda Forever (Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson), This Is a Life from Everything Everywhere All at Once (Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski).

The song was also performed on the Oscars stage by Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava. However, Ram Charan and Jr NTR did not perform stage. Deepika Padukone introduced the performance, which received a standing ovation at the ceremony. You can watch it here:

Choreographed by Prem Rakshith, the song’s hook steps became a rage around the world. The choreographer shared that he composed “more than 118 steps for this song.” He credited director SS Rajamouli and said, “I have done more than 1000 songs but those songs never went to Oscars. Because of this movie (RRR), it went there. Otherwise, I can’t imagine going there. It is because RRR is so good and the way it is presented that everyone has enjoyed the movie and the song. I am so thankful to Rajamouli sir. This is his vision and his hard work.”

In a recent chat with Vanity Fair, Rajamouli spoke about Prem Rakshith’s work on the song and shared, “He had a difficult job as I told him that the song should (look) nice, the steps shouldn’t be too difficult so people can also replicate, and it should suit the style of the actors. You won’t believe this, but Prem came up with more than 100 variations for the hook line of Naatu Naatu, so credit to him.” The song was shot at Mariinskyi Palace in Kyiv, Ukraine.