Try Again: All Naatu Naatu Song and Dance Secrets of Indian Cinema – This Unforgettable Performance Won an Oscar

A video of two Indian brothers dancing at an English settler party appeared in 2021, ahead of the premiere of RRR: The Revolution Roars Near, directed by SS Rajamouli. And she literally drove the whole world crazy: children and adults tried to repeat the dance in pairs, arranging challenges on social networks. And indeed, with the sounds of this song, interpreted in Telugu, impossible to stay in place!

Film pundits stood in solidarity with netizens: the vocal and dancing number won the 2023 Oscar and the 2023 Golden Globe. Naatu Naatu was the first song from an Indian film to win such prestigious awards around the world.

Of course, this is surprising considering how many decades Indian cinema has provided cool patterns and dances to its millions of fans across the world! To be fair, it should be remembered that in 2008 the Indian song for the film “Slumdog Millionaire” received an Oscar, but this film was a transnational project led by the Briton Danny Boyle.

This issue is entirely the fruit of the efforts and merit of the Indian filmmakers. The song was written by composer MM Kiravani and poet Chandrabos, and sung by Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava. The main actors of the film, Telugu actors Ram Charam and Rama Rao Jr., both excellent dancers, perfectly embodied the dramatic vision of choreographer Prem Rakshit.

According to the plot of the film, Indian brothers appear at a social reception in the estate of wealthy Britons (who, as you can guess, are not their comrades at all) and organize a dance battle. It takes place in the 20s of the last century, and such a development of events is not at all an invention of the screenwriters. Dance marathons were very popular among the young people of those years, during which the most enduring and skillful became the winners, and the rest literally collapsed from exhaustion. Admittedly, it probably didn’t look as epic as it does in Indian cinema!

The text of the song is devoted to the artistic description of how, in fact, the Naatu Naatu dance should be danced. His movements are compared to a battle with a wild beast, the eating of green chili peppers and the loud song of a bird.

The genius of the movie number “RRR: Revolution Roars Near” is that it combined the ancient traditions of Indian art and modern dance, blending ritual movements with hip-hop practice in an incendiary 6/ 8. At the heart of the Naatu Naatu dance is a hook-step, a sequence of movements that is not easy to repeat without preparation, but possible if you practice hard.

The two dancers in the film show very precise and fast footwork. This technique requires excellent preparation and serious physical exertion, although from the outside it seems that the performer is literally floating like a hummingbird.

And Ram and Rama have mastered Bollywood’s favorite isolation technique (more precisely, Tollywood – remember, we’re talking about a Telugu film!), in which the head stays still and the body does something incredible. .

In general, with a strong desire to approach the talent of Indian dancers, it is possible, but surpassing them is unlikely!