Blockbuster Telugu music director M.M. Keeravani has been an iconic name in South Indian cinema, who became a nationwide sensation after the Baahubali films, and is now a global star after the gargantuan success of his 'Naatu Naatu' song in the worldwide hit, RRR, directed by SS Rajamouli starring Ram Charan and Jr. NTR in the lead roles. Having won the Academy Award for 'Best Original Song' at Oscars 2023, the veteran composer recently sat down with National Award-winning film critic Baradwaj Rangan, the Editor-in-Chief of Galatta Plus, to talk about the reasons behind the success of 'Naatu Naatu', while also explaining how it attained a viral status similar to the 'Why This Kolaveri Di' song composed by Anirudh Ravichander in Dhanush's 3.
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Stating that he didn't realize he had a special song when he composed 'Naatu Naatu', M. M. Keeravani said, "It is one more mass dance song. Technically speaking or aesthetically speaking, you expect awards to different kind of songs where you showcase your talent in terms of classical music or great poetry like Kannadasan. Or, some kind of intricately designed orchestration and so on... But, Naatu Naatu is just a fast commercial number for which not in my wildest dreams I expected any award. Forget the Oscars, it's not an award song. But, what made it gain worldwide attention was the contribution of the director and the choreographer. That’s what I told in my Golden Globe acceptance speech. So, it has become the integral part of the movie. It's not just a song. It’s a scene by itself. It’s a mini story, a short story by itself happening in the main story."
M. M. Keeravani continues, "A very uniquely person composed the dance steps, which became viral everywhere. So, all credit goes to Rajamouli and Prem Rakshit majorly and of course, Mr. Chandra Bose. And, speaking about Mr. Chandra Bose, though he just melted his brain into writing excellent thoughts throughout the song, but who cares about the entire song? The world cares about only 'Naatu Naatu Naatu, Veera Naatu'. The rest is okay. It's left to the Telugu language speaking and understanding folks. But, the world embraced only two lines, and those two lines are magical lines, which were originally created by Chandra Bose. Again, because the song happened in four other languages - Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi. Just because officially the Telugu version is presented and registered with Oscars, Chandra Bose is lucky enough to be in the Telugu segment. And, the Telugu version sounded more rhyming and fun-oriented than the other languages. Of course, the other writers contributed to their level best as well. But, Telugu has the resonance in sounding, which became the main reason for the song to become a viral hit. So, Chandra Bose deserves all this appreciation for him because he came up with the beautiful hook line or Pallavi. They are like a mantra. It attained a mantaram status than a song status. That’s why it became viral like Kolaveri, you may say."
Watch M. M. Keeravani in conversation with Baradwaj Rangan in the video below:
