Oscars 2023: Naatu Naatu wins at the Academy Awards, SS Rajamouli's RRR creates history

Director SS Rajamouli's blockbuster RRR created history after its global hit RRR bagged the Oscars in the best original song category at the 95th Academy Awards. Composer M. M. Keeravani used Indian folk beats in this song, while lyricist Chandrabose wrote this song taking inspiration from his childhood. It took 19 months for Chandrabose to finish writing the song Naatu Naatu, which means Dance Dance. 

Naatu Naatu was sung by singer Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava. The song first broke the internet when the filmmakers released the synchronised dance moves of the film's stars Ram Charan and Jr NTR in the song's lyrical video. The hook step inspired endless Instagram reels from people across the world. And the song's popularity could be credited for RRR's popularity travelling beyond the conventional markets for Telugu movies across the world. 

Choreographer Prem Rakshit's dance moves for Naatu Naatu are a great test of one's endurance. The song was shot at the beautiful Mariinskyi Palace in Ukraine, which was at the time at the edge of war with Russia. The cast and crew of RRR shot for the song for 15 days at the presidential palace with about 150 dancers. "I have been telling this that my leg still hurts," Tarak told Entertainment Tonight. "The steps as such were not hard but what was harder was the sync."

Rajamouli wanted both Charan and Tarak moments in perfect sync and he kept repeating the takes that were approved by Prem until everything in the shot was in perfect sync. And all that hard work and vision paid off and how.  

Naatu Naatu bagged the Oscars beating heavyweights like Applause from Tell It Like a Woman, Lift Me Up from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Hold My Hand from Top Gun: Maverick, This Is a Life from Everything Everywhere All at Once.