Oscars 2023 was truly special for Kaala and Rahul as their song ‘Naatu Naatu’ from ‘RRR’ won the Best Original Song award at the 95th Academy Awards
Our Bureau
Los Angeles
‘Naatu Naatu’ singers Kaala Bhairava and Rahul Sipligunj wowed everyone with their performance at the Oscars 2023. They received a standing ovation at the Oscars ceremony which took place at Dolby Theatre, in Los Angeles.
After the ceremony, the duo met singer Rihanna. Sharing a picture from their meeting with the “Queen”, Kaala took to Instagram and wrote, “I was short of words when this happened. An artist I always looked up to, and admired deeply! My inspiration, The queen @badgalriri..Wanted to tell her how much I love ‘Stay’ and that I must’ve listened to it a million times, but yes I was short of words! This memory is going to ‘stay’ in my heart forever.”
Rahul also took to Instagram to share a picture with Rihanna and called it a dream come true moment.
He captioned the post, “Wooow I have met the most amazing lady with a very beautiful heart?? Still in shock by seeing your humbleness #rihana @badgalriri and how down to earth you are! Thank you so much for calling and appreciating for the performance and #oscarwinning. It’s an emotional moment for me!! Can’t keep calm #mydreamcometrue (sic).”
The song’s music is composed by M.M. Keeravaani, while its lyrics are written by Chandrabose. Before winning the Oscar, the song had bagged awards on the global stage. In January, ‘Naatu Naatu’ won the Golden Globe in the ‘Best Original Song’ category. Five days later, ‘RRR’ bagged two more awards at the 28th edition of the Critics Choice Awards. One for the ‘Best Song’ and another for ‘Best Foreign Language Film.’
Oscars 2023 was truly special for Kaala and Rahul as their song ‘Naatu Naatu’ from ‘RRR’ won the Best Original Song award at the 95th Academy Awards. Rahul’s father Rajkumar said: “This is a moment of pride for India. Our forefathers used to sing and he has also got the same genes. When he was a child he would sing sometimes and I took notice of it,” he said.
Rahul’s mother Sudha Rani said, “We are very happy. By almighty’s grace, we consider ourselves extremely fortunate. Keeravani Sir and Rajamouli Sir also helped us a lot.” Speaking about Rahul’s knack for singing since his childhood days, his mother said, “He used to play music on the table. His father took notice of it and got him admitted to music school. Rahul took his lessons from Pandit Vitthal Rao.”
Prem Rakshit, choreographer of the Oscar-winning song ‘Naatu Naatu’ from ‘RRR’, arrived in Hyderabad on Wednesday after attending the prestigious 95th Academy Awards in Los Angeles.
The choreographer received a warm welcome from fans and media personnel stationed outside the airport. Expressing his happiness while speaking to ANI, Prem Rakshit said, “When MM Keeravaani Sir and Chandrabose Sir came out after winning the Oscar, Keeravani sir hugged me, I can’t express how blessed I felt at that moment. I want to thank everyone for loving RRR and ‘Naatu Naatu’ so much.”
Oscars 2023 was special for Indians as ‘Naatu Naatu’ from SS Rajamoul’s directorial ‘RRR’ won the Best Original Song award.
‘This win is encouraging for all Indian documentary makers’
Apart from director Kartiki Gonsalves and producer Guneet Monga whose short documentary film ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ won the Oscar award, there is also a young woman behind the success, Sanchari Das Mallick, who edited this film.
Overwhelmed and proud of her daughter, Sanchari Das Mallick’s mother Shubha Das Mallick expressed her feelings after hearing the good news. “First we were very happy when the film was nominated. It was among the 5 nominated films; we were really because it means that they would be invited to the Oscars and the team would go to the Oscars. But when yesterday we heard that this actually won the Oscar, we were very happy for several reasons. Number one, my daughter has edited the film, naturally as a parent as a mother I will be very happy. But I am also a documentary filmmaker and an Indian documentary film has won this highest International award. This is really encouraging for all Indian documentary filmmakers,” she said.
She added, “So Indian documentary film getting a International recognition of this stature is a good news for all Indian documentary filmmakers. So these were my immediate reactions on hearing the news.”
Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga took centre stage to accept the honour on Monday at Oscar. Editor of the film Sanchari Das Mollick was also present at the event.
‘The Elephant Whisperers’, is a documentary directed by Kartiki Gonsalves paved way for many to believe that India truly can take the centre stage globally. It won the Oscar in the ‘Best Documentary Short Film’ category against ‘Haul Out,’ ‘How Do You Measure A Year?’ ‘The Martha Mitchell Effect,’ and ‘Stranger At The Gate’.
