"Naatu Naatu" () is an Indian

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

-language song composed by M. M. Keeravani, with lyrics by Chandrabose and recorded by

Rahul Sipligunj Rahul Sipligunj (born 22 August 1989) is an Indian playback singer, songwriter, independent musician and actor. He became popular with his independent songs on YouTube.Kaala Bhairava Kaala Bhairava is an Indian playback singer and music director who works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He has sung songs in Tamil, Hindi and Kannada, in addition to Telugu. He was the composer of the films '' Mathu Vadalara'' and ''Colour Phot ...

for the

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' ...

of the 2022 Indian film ''

RRR RRR may refer to: Art and entertainment * ''RRR'' (film), an Indian Telugu film Industry film ** ''RRR'' (soundtrack), soundtrack album of the film of the same name * RRRecords, a record label * '' Roots Rock Riot'', a 2007 album by Skindred * ...

''. It was released on 10 November 2021 (released on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

as a lyrical video song) as the second single from the album, through

Lahari Music Lahari Recording Company is an Indian music company based in Bangalore. It owns a music label called "Lahari Music" also a film production company called "Lahari Films LLP". They later ventured into construction under the name of HomEquity Indi ...

and T-Series. The full video song, featuring visuals directly from the film, was released on 11 April 2022 on

. The song was also released in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

as "Naacho Naacho", in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

as "Naattu Koothu", in

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

as "Halli Naatu" and in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

as "Karinthol". The hook step dance involving

N. T. Rama Rao Jr. Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Jr. (born 20 May 1983), also known as Jr. N.T.R. or Tarak, is an Indian actor who primarily works in Telugu cinema. One of the highest paid Telugu film actors, Rama Rao Jr. has won several accolades, including two Fil ...

and

Ram Charan Konidela Ram Charan Teja (born 27 March 1985) is an Indian actor, producer, and entrepreneur who works predominantly in Telugu films. One of the highest-paid Telugu film actors, he is the recipient of three Filmfare Awards and two Nandi Awa ...

the lead actors of ''RRR''became popular. "Naatu Naatu" became the first song from an Indian film to win the

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who have composed th ...

and the

Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song The Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song is a Golden Globe Award that was awarded for the first time in 1962 and has been awarded annually since 1965 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The award is presented to the songwriters of a ...

, as well as the first song from an Asian film to win the former.

Background and recording

The entire process of producing the song took over 19 months. Keeravani composed 10 to 20 different tunes based on that particular point in the script. Later, the team finalized this particular tune based on a voting process from their inner circle.

Composition and lyrics

The

word ''naatu'' (; ''nāṭu'') variously translates to 'native', 'local', 'countryside', 'raw and rustic', 'ethnic'. Chandrabose wrote the lyrics based on his childhood memories. According to Chandrabose, he wrote 90% of the song in half a day but it took 1.7 years to write the remaining 10%. The composer Keeravani likened the sound to the traditional beats of folk songs in Indian villages. Keeravani used duffs, an Indian skin drum for the instrumentation and added in

mandolins A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

for the melody. The song features a beat popular in South Indian music. The song was also released in

as "Naacho Naacho", in

as "Naattu Koothu", in

as "Halli Naatu" and in

as "Karinthol". It was released on 10 November 2021 (released on

as a lyrical video song) as the second single from the album, through

and T-Series. The full video song, featuring visuals directly from the film, was released on 11 April 2022 on

Critical reception

'' Onmanorama'' praised the song and stated, "The mood-lifting beats and the perkiest actors dancing to those beats is just what the fans have been waiting for, ever since the makers announced the magnum opus." A. Kameshwari of ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...

'' wrote "Naatu Naatu offer double the fun as the two actors perform together on screen and create an insane energy, which makes you want to dance too. The RRR song can sure be titled as the best mass track of the year." A review from ''Mirchi9'' criticized the song itself for being ordinary, calling it as "an old-school, serviceable number". However, they praised Rama Rao and Charan's choreography and rapport, calling it as a "visual feast". Matt Patches of ''

Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...

'' and Wes Greene of ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

'' named the musical sequence as one of the best movie scenes of 2022. Alison Herman of '' The Ringer'' complimented the idea of the song and wrote "Naatu Naatu is something different: a musical performance that moves the story forward in a movie that isn't primarily musical, challenging the binary of "musical" versus "not" and making the song itself more integral to the film", comparing it with the Academy Award for Best Original Song nominees. Analyzing the song, Sudhir Srinivasan of ''

The New Indian Express ''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naid ...

'' stated: "The 274 seconds of the song inspire a rare loss of inhibition; they urge you to let go, give in, trust, and just dance. Worry later, dance now. For those seconds, everyone—the oppressive white man, the meek princess, the Indian rebels—is equal in dance and joy". ''Firstpost'' Ganesh Aaglave praised

's vocals.

Accolades

Music video

Background and production

''RRR'' director Rajamouli conceived "Naatu Naatu" as a kind of fight sequence in which the Indian duo outdance their British counterparts. He also used the song as a

foreshadowing Foreshadowing is a narrative device in which a storyteller gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story. Foreshadowing often appears at the beginning of a story, and it helps develop or subvert the audience's expectations about upco ...

for the climax sequence. "I think the biggest achievement for me was incorporating how the song comes into the film, without breaking the narrative," he noted. Rajamouli described the sequence as "the story behind the story" and is like a short film of its own with different sub-plots.

Prem Rakshith Prem Rakshith is an Indian choreographer who was introduced to the movie industry by Actor Jithan Ramesh. He has won four Filmfare Awards The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi- ...

choreographed the dance sequences. Rajamouli wanted steps "that would look great with two people doing it together, but not so complicated that no-one could do it." Rakshith choreographed 110 moves for the hook step. "Naatu Naatu" was shot in August 2021 in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

as a part of the final leg of shooting of ''RRR''. Filming took place at the

Mariinskyi Palace The Mariinskyi Palace ( uk, Маріїнський палац, ''Mariinskyi palats'') is the official ceremonial residence of the President of Ukraine. The Elizabethan baroque palace is sited on the right bank of the Dnipro River in Kyiv, Ukra ...

, the official residence of the

president of Ukraine The president of Ukraine ( uk, Президент України, Prezydent Ukrainy) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, condu ...

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, a few months before the onset of the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

. The song picturization took 15 days. The music video featured about 50 dancers and 300 to 400 extras.

Synopsis

The music video is a direct clip from a scene in ''

'', which features Raju (Ram Charan) and Bheem (Rama Rao) singing the lyrics and out-dancing the rich British men at a fancy British party, encouraged by Bheem's love interest Jenny (

Olivia Morris Olivia Kathleen F. Morris (born 29 January 1997) is an English language, English actress. She is known for her roles in the Indian film ''RRR (film), RRR'' (2022), the BritBox series ''Hotel Portofino'' (2022–), and the second season of the HB ...

). By the song's climax, Ram and Bheem ignite a dance battle between themselves and the British men, who each fall down one by one as they fail to keep up; and despite being cheered for, Ram pretends to injure his leg and falls over to allow Bheem to win the battle and impress Jenny.

Reception

Within 24 hours of its release, the song crossed over 17 million views in Telugu (becoming the most-viewed Telugu song), and 35 million views in all five languages on

. It also became the fastest Telugu song to cross 1 million likes. In February 2022, the song crossed over 200 million views in all languages.

Impact

The song received positive reception from audiences, praising the music. The hook step, performed by Jr NTR and Ram Charan, went viral on social media. Charan and Rama Rao often recreated the viral portion of the dance in the film's promotions, as did director Rajamouli at the film's success party with encouragement from Rama Rao. In an article, Brenda Haas of ''

Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave" in English), abbreviated to DW, is a German public, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the German federal tax budget. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite television service con ...

'' referred to the song as a "global sensation". She further opined and wrote that, "the song's international popularity also underscores the fact that language is no barrier to enjoying music across borders". At

Edison, New Jersey Edison is a township located in Middlesex County,in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated in Central New Jersey within the core of the state's Raritan Valley region, Edison is a commercial hub, home to Menlo Park Mall and Little India. It is ...

in 2023, numerous Tesla cars were assembled to have a show of light & sound, set to the music of this song.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

. * M. M. Keeravani composer * Chandrabose lyricist *

vocal * Prem Rakshith Choreographer * G. Jeevan Babu mix engineer, mastering engineer, programmer * Siddharth S programmer

Charts

References

External links

* *
Naatu Naatu (Telugu lyric)
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