‘RRR’ Song ‘Naatu Naatu’ Wins Best Original Song at Golden Globes 2023

Not salsa, not flamenco, but “Naatu,” as Ram Charan’s character Alluri Sitarama Raju says to their colonizers in RRR, has made global waves in the cinema world. The song “Naatu Naatu” – composed by veteran Telugu music director M.M. Keeravani, featuring the vocals of Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava and lyrics by Chandrabose – has now gone on to win Best Original Song at the Golden Globes 2023.

The song was nominated alongside Taylor Swift’s “Carolina” from Where The Crawdads Sing, “Ciao Papa” by Guillermo del Toro, Roeban Katz and Alexandre Desplat from the auteur’s film Pinocchio, Rihanna’s comeback song “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Lady Gaga’s soaring song “Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick.

Composer M.M. Keeravani was on the red carpet prior to the win, talking about being nominated. When asked about what made “Naatu Naatu” a big draw, he said, “The very originality of the song – the ethnic beats, the energy, all of that.” The composer added jokingly that his celebration song if he wins would be the “Happy Birthday Song,” since it would mark the birth of an award winner.

Backstage after the win, Keeravani explained the importance of the film and its narrative, one that evokes patriotism but also packs in action and emotion. “It’s the first time that it’s bagged the applause of international audiences. I’m very happy to be associated with [director] S.S. Rajamouli. I’m looking forward to more such opportunities worldwide,” the composer said.

While it didn’t win Best Picture – Non-English Language (formerly Foreign Language) – that honor went to Argentina, 1985 – the Golden Globe for “Naatu Naatu” and RRR makes for a strong impression for Indian cinema on the international front.

A strong contender to get nominated for at the Academy Awards (which will be announced later this month), RRR has spent much of the year since its release being touted as a South Asian magnum opus, one that’s finally putting Indian cinema – in all its high-octane action, melodrama and singing-dancing glory – back in the global spotlight. Danny Boyle’s Mumbai saga Slumdog Millionaire and A.R. Rahman’s win for “Jai Ho” in the Best Original Song category at the Academy Awards in 2009 comes to mind, except that RRR is an entirely Indian production with an Indian director at the helm.

With both “Jai Ho” and “Naatu Naatu,” though, the Indian grandiosity of rhythms is evident in Rahman’s and Keeravani’s composing style. They are both songs of celebration and clearly, the world is joining in the revelry.