The dance song from the blockbuster Telugu-language action epic "RRR," which has wowed viewers worldwide with its upbeat tempo and choreography, is the first from an Indian film to receive a nomination and win. In a first for an Indian production, "The Elephant Whisperers" was awarded best short documentary at the ceremony on Sunday night. The Netflix-streaming documentary examines the relationship between people and animals by following the tale of a couple in southern India who dedicate their lives to caring for an orphaned elephant.
"Congratulations India" became a trending topic on Twitter after M.M. Keeravani and Chandrabose's "Naatu Naatu" defeated Lady Gaga and Rihanna to win best original music. The Telugu song's international success thrilled admirers in Hyderabad, a city in southern India where Telugu is widely spoken. "It's a fantastic sensation. We finally won an Oscar, and a Telugu movie did it!" exclaimed Venkata Ramanna, a software worker, who called the victory "exhilarating." Congratulation posts flooded Indian social media from cricket players, lawmakers, and common citizens. Chiranjeevi, a well-known Telugu actor and former politician, praised "#NaatuNaatu on top of the world!!!" on Twitter. "Exceptional! "Naatu Naatu's popularity is widespread worldwide," tweeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He also praised "The Elephant Whisperers" producers Guneet Monga and Kartiki Gonsalves for emphasizing the "importance of sustainable development and living in harmony with nature." To all the women watching, Monga wrote in a tweet, "The future is audacious and the future is here," calling the honor "historic" for both India and women. A young Indian climate activist named Licypriya Kangujam called the documentary's victory a time to be proud of for all environmentalists. However, on Monday, the hashtags RRR and Naatu Naatu took over social media streams. The three-hour maximalist action epic, which stars N.T. Rama Rao Jr. and Ram Charan, is one of India's most costly and highest-grossing movies ever.
Before reaching an even larger audience on Netflix, where it spent weeks ranking among the top 10 non-English language films, it also rapidly climbed the American box office charts. The wildly famous song was also honored with a Golden Globe in January. As he congratulated the "RRR" team, Charan wrote on Twitter, "Naatu Naatu is an emotion across the globe." He added, "This award belongs to every actor, technician, and moviegoer in India. Before Russia invaded Ukraine in August 2021, the music was filmed in front of the Mariinskyi Palace, the president's official residence in Kyiv. It took the team 15 days to film the music video, which included up to 400 extras and about 50 dancers.
In a January interview with Variety, director S.S. Rajamouli explained that he wanted to use the action scene in which the movie's two major Indian actors outdance the British to further explore the anti-colonial themes of the film. He cited the phrase "that would look great with two people doing it together, but not so complicated that no one could do it" when describing his ideal choreography. The quick dance moves quickly gained popularity, inspiring users to try to duplicate them in a TikTok challenge. The upbeat beat amassed more than 122 million views on YouTube, turning into an internet hit. Keeravani was overcome with emotion after the victory backstage at the awards show. "Everything's just getting started,said he. "People in the globe, especially in the West, are more interested in Indian and Asian music. It's simply past time. I'm overjoyed that I've been able to let the world in and appreciate my culture.