An Indian film song wins Golden Globes 2023
If you are a follower of entertainment awards, the name Golden Globes must be all too familiar for you. However, being an Indian, it has been just a foreign award till date, considering no Indian artist ever received it, until recently. At the 80th edition of the Golden Globes Award, conducted on 10th January 2023 at Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, California, USA, an Indian song titled ‘Naatu Naatu’ from the film ‘RRR’ won the Best Original Song. ‘RRR’ was also nominated for the Best Non-English Language Film but lost to ‘Argentina, 1985.’
‘RRR’, the blockbuster South Indian film, has been directed by celebrated filmmaker SS Rajamouli, best known as the creator of ‘Baahubali’. The Telegu language epic action drama starred superstars Jr NTR and Ram Charan in lead roles of real-life freedom fighters Komaram Bheem and Alluri Sitaramaraju. Set in 1920 in pre-independent India, the film revolves around the friendship of the revolutionaries and their struggles during the freedom movement.
Despite the amazing plot, the first Indian film to ever win a Golden Globe deserves all the credit for its song ‘Naatu Naatu’ that made history by beating the likes of Lady Gaga (for ‘Hold My Hand’), Taylor Swift (for ‘Carolina’) and Rihanna (for ‘Lift Me Up’).
Okay, so who should we thank for this win? Well, that has to be the distinguished music composer M.M. Keeravani, lyricist Chandra Bose and singers Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhalrava. It is a full energetic dance number featuring the film’s lead actors. In fact, the song comes at a turning point in the film when the two heroes are invited at a party hosted by a British elite and decide to show them what ‘real dancing’ is all about. It is much like how Aamir Khan in the role of Bhuvan in the 2001 musical/ sport drama ‘Lagaan’ decides to play cricket, the game of the British and eventually overthrows them. The 3.36 minute-long song ‘Naatu Naatu’ is an assertion of pride as Indians and how they disregarded the superiority and dominance enforced by the British upon them. Interestingly, it took as long as 9 months to pen the song and is a combination of Western classical, Indian folk and pop. If you have been wondering what ‘Naatu Naatu’ means, it is ‘Dance Dance’ in Telegu.
The win has been lauded by eminent members of the Indian film industry such as A.R. Rahman, Samantha Prabhu, Allu Arjun and Shah Rukh Khan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi too shared his delight via Twitter.
The film ‘RRR’ has already won other international honours including Best Director for SS Rajamouli at the New York Film Critics Circle awards. The film has also submitted itself for consideration in various Oscar categories and is expected to be nominated in at least one.