Naatu Naatu dominated the 95th Oscars
Naatu Naatu dominated the 95th Oscars (Image courtesy- Getty images)

RRR utterly dominated The Oscars 2023 that was held in Los Angeles. The top track, Naatu Naatu, received the Oscar in the Best Original Song category. Lyricist Chandrabose and composer MM Keeravaani grabbed the trophy and sang a rendition of Top Of The World by The Carpenters.

MM Keeravaani and Chandrabose are the latest Indians to win the Oscars after costume designer Bhanu Athaiya, filmmaker Satyajit Ray, composer AR Rahman, lyricist Gulzar, and sound engineer Resul Pookutty. Naatu Naatu is the first Indian song to win at the Academy Awards.

Naatu Naatu completes its global domination after winning Best Original Song at The Oscars 2023

Naatu Naatu won the Oscars for Best Original Song
Naatu Naatu won the Best Original Song in Oscars 2023 (Image courtesy- Twitter / @RRRMovie)

RRR‘s track Naatu Naatu film triumphed over a group of formidable rivals, including, Rihanna’s Lift Me Up from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Applause from Tell It Like A Woman, Lady Gaga’s Hold My Hand from Top Gun: Maverick, and This Is A Life from Everything Everywhere All At Once.

The film is about colonial India, and is well-liked worldwide. It focuses on the friendship and struggle of two fictionalized Indian rebels, Alluri Sitarama Raju (Charan) and Komaram Bheem (Rama Rao), against the British Raj. Raju and Bheem compete in an exciting dance fight with British opponents in the song.

The song and the film became immensely popular shortly after release. In addition to having sold-out screenings in Japan, it just held its largest screening to date in a theater in Los Angeles, where the crowd sang along to Naatu Naatu. It was filmed in front of the presidential palace in Kyiv, Ukraine, before the crisis with Russia.

Is it overrated or justified? 

Naatu Naatu dominated Oscars 2023
Naatu Naatu dominated Oscars 2023 (Image courtesy- Getty Images)

A prize for Best Original Score for RRR was already given to M.M. Keeravani by the Boston Society Of Film Critics. The film has also won the Atlanta Film Critics Circle Awards’ Best International Feature prize and the Hollywood Critics Association’s Spotlight Award.

With all the awards coming their way, one has to wonder if Naatu Naatu is indeed deserving of an Academy Award since the song had received greater attention after it was included on The Oscars shortlist.

Sure, it’s upbeat and encourages you to dance till you pass out (just like in the movie), but that’s true for many songs. That does not imply that songs like Super Freaky Girl or Mercy should have won an Oscar.

So, the to answer the question, is the song justified or overrated? Well it is absolutely justified, as we can see that in Naatu Naatu, which includes Charan and Jr. NTR dancing together to the song’s infectious beat, the inclusive spirit of dance and camaraderie is celebrated. With a duration of more than 4.35 minutes, it exemplifies the fun-loving nature of the country’s music.

Recently, director Rajamouli disclosed in an interview that Prem Rakshith, the choreographer, created more than “100 variants” of the hook step for the song. Furthermore, the song made the audiences whistle and dance in the theaters and that’s all they wanted.

Bias Sinha Sarkar
https://www.spieltimes.com/author/bias
Bias Sinha is a Writer at Spiel Times. She is an introvert who is currently pursuing her Bachelors in Education. Moreover, she used to work as a freelance content writer. She is interested in books, old movies, and K-dramas. In her leisure time, she likes to read, make DIY crafts, create scrapbooks, watch series and spend time with her fur baby. Furthermore, she is also writing her own book.