Oscars 2023: RRR's 'World dancing to Naatu Naatu' as RRR song wins Best Original Song award - Here's how Indians react to historic victory

The blockbuster Telugu-language movie RRR song Naatu Naatu made history by becoming the second Indian film song to win an Oscar.

At the 95th Academy Awards, the world was introduced to the catchy beat of "Naatu Naatu," a song that went on to win the prestigious award for Best Original Song. The song's triumph was particularly notable as it beat out superstars like Lady Gaga and Rihanna.

The award was given to the well-known lyricist Chandrabose and composer M.M. Keeravani, who collaborated to write the soundtrack for the movie and all of its songs. Their win followed an intense rendition of "Naatu Naatu" by song and dance, which was hailed as one of the telecast's highlights that year. Keeravani dazzled the audience by dedicating a significant portion of his acceptance speech to a Carpenters classic, revealing that he had grown up listening to their music.

"Naatu Naatu" was considered a front-runner and had a good chance of winning even before it won the Golden Globe for best song in January. According to presenter Deepika Padukone, the song "Naatu Naatu" is "a real banger" and "the first song ever from an Indian production to be nominated for an Oscar."

The "hook step" choreography that appeared in footage released before the film's American premiere was imitated on social media, making it the most well-known movie-music meme of the year.

While Keeravani and Chandrabose are not the first Indians to win the award for Best Song, their win is still considered historic. The soundtrack for the film "Slumdog Millionaire," "Jai Ho," won the 2019 Oscar for best song, giving composer A.R. Rahman a double triumph. However, Slumdog was a British production, even though it was set in India. Keeravani's win with "Naatu Naatu" is considered a significant achievement in bringing Indian film to a global audience.

The song's beat was a key element in its success, according to Keeravaani. "The beat is 6/8 — that's not very usually heard from the West, but more frequently heard from India, and sometimes from Africa, and nations like that," he said in an interview with Variety. The beat has more in common with the South Indian beat than the North Indian beat, and in "Naatu Naatu," it assumed a brand-new dimension and an uncommon level of BPM that drew the Western audience's attention.

Keeravani also mentioned the singers he chose to perform a reprise of their soundtrack at the Oscars: "I chose Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava." Keeravani claims that the song "Naatu Naatu" should make the audience forget about everything going on in the world and give it their undivided attention. Furthermore, because it calls for such endurance, the song's coda, or final section, is more of an action sequence than a song.

India's second Oscar at the 95th Academy Awards came in the category of Best Documentary Short Film with The Elephant Whisperers. The documentary is the first Indian production to take home a prize in the category. It tells the story of a couple who look after an injured baby elephant after it becomes separated from its herd. The Elephant Whisperers is a heartwarming film that explores the bond that forms between people and animals as they learn to coexist. It was shot in the beautiful Nilgiri mountains in southern India.

However, it was "Naatu Naatu" that continued to be India's big victory, with the catchy song winning both a Golden Globe and a Critics' Choice Award for the best song. In his acceptance speech, Keeravani called the song "the pride of every Indian" and sang the tune of The Carpenters'