The impressive musical number from 'RRR' was a big hit this awards season!
Get ready to dance, "Naatu Naatu" is an Oscar winner!
The song, from the Indian Telugu-language epic RRR, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song on Sunday, becoming the first song from an Indian film to win in the category.
Composer M. M. Keeravani accepted the award alongside songwriter Chandrabose.
"Naatu Naatu" is just the fourth foreign-language song to win in the category, and the first since 2008, when the Hindi song "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire took home the Oscar. It also won Best Original Song at the 80th Golden Globe Awards, making it the first Indian as well as the first Asian song to win that award.
RRR has been a global success and a major breakthrough for "Tollywood" -- the popular name for Indian films made in the Telagu language. Earning ₹240 crore (US$30 million) worldwide on its first day, the film recorded the highest opening day earning by an Indian film. To date, the film has grossed more than ₹1,200 crore (US$150 million) worldwide, setting several box office records for an Indian film, including the third highest-grossing Indian film and second highest-grossing Telugu film worldwide.
ET's Ash Crossan sat down with Rao Jr. and Charan just ahead of the Oscars, where they joked that they were still tired from filming the song's epic dance sequence in RRR.
"My knees still wobble when I think about it," Charan said with a laugh. "I think I lost about 4 kilos."
However, they've admittedly been delighted by the way fans all around the world have embraced the film -- and especially the song.
"I feel it's no more our song," Charan explained. "It's become the public's song. Different age groups, different culture... I don't know if they even understand the lyrics of it, but... they just started to embrace this all over the world, from Japan to U.S."
And the pair was more than eager to have their moment at the Oscars and mingle with Hollywood actors they've long admired.
"It's gonna be a surreal experience," Rao Jr. shared. "Every actor I have experienced growing as an actor, everybody has etched something in my mind to become a better actor. I'm just looking forward to to seeing everybody. There's going to be my favorite filmmakers. There's gonna be seniors. There's going to be actors of my generation. I think Oscars is gonna be like a kid in a candy shop."
The 2023 Academy Awards hosted by Jimmy Kimmel will air live on Sunday, March 12 starting at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on ABC. See the complete winners list and stay tuned to ETonline.com for complete Oscars coverage.
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