The song and dance about Naatu Naatu

Naatu Naatu in Hindi translates as “Naacho Naacho” while in English it simply means “dance dance.”  This song from the Telugu language film strangely named RRR has won the Golden Globe for the Best Original Song this year, bringing this award home for the first time in Asia in the award’s 80-year-old history winning over international music greats like Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga and Rihanna. 

The song is composed by MM Keeravani whose face adorns the pages of media in the country holding the trophy, the Golden Globe aloft in one hand and the thumbs up sign. Who is MM Keeravani? He is known as MM Kreem in Bollywood and Marakathamani for the music he composes for Tamil films. He is a talented music composer of long standing having written the lyrics for Tamil and Telugu films. MM Keeravani  has already bagged other awards such as a Saturn Award nomination, a National Film Award, eight Filmfare Awards and eleven Nandi Awards. This Golden Globe therefore, is no flash in the pan; nor does the entire credit go to Keeravani because it is the dance number that has made the film and the song famous and not the other way round. 

Those who have watched RRR and drooled over this song across the globe will be able to remember this which actually defines a sub-plot in the story and also fleshes out the various talents of the two heroes more sharply than through the

MM Keeravani, composer of Naatu Naatu holding the Golden Globe Trophy

confusing storyline with sub-plots failing to make a cohesive statement and dozens of characters making their own statements. All of this is kicked up against the abduction of a little tribal girl from a closed Dalit community in British ruled India only because the wife of the British governor in the State takes a fancy to the girl and demands she be taken as a servant maid. The community she belongs to is no less aggressive, arrogant and proud than the White rulers and her elder brother takes it upon himself to rescue his kid sister and bring her back home. He acquires another friend as equally strong, macho and courageous as he is and the two go on this long adventurous journey filled with song-dance numbers, incredibly fanciful fights and leaps and other heroic acts and actually fleshes out the fragments of the “story” that is filled with absurd subplots.

Somewhere along their search for the girl, the two macho young men, full of energy deliberately walk into a grand party being held on the grounds of a lavish palace probably when an engagement party between a White girl and a White young man is about to begin. The White young man with his hair falling over his forehead, approaches them and orders them to walk out at once as they are intruders. The two men respond with “Naatu Naatu” and when the White man asks the meaning, they begin to dance. 

The two portrayed by NTR Junior and Ram Charan are dressed in three-piece suits with their trousers held up by a pair of suspenders was popular during the period the film is set against. But as they begin their dance number along with the song that provides the background, the rhythm, the music, the beats and the energy to the dance, they begin to shake off their coats without stopping even for a moment in their performance. The men in the party seem to be doubtful of the presence and performance of these “native” intruders but the beautiful young White women, dozens of them dressed in flowing pink-and-white gowns are not just thrilled but make a move to join in. The entire song-dance number was shot at the President’s palace in Ukraine in the midst of the tumult.

The young guys use their suspenders within their dance gracefully without missing a single step.The creative and constructive use of suspenders, first popularised as “braces” in 1822 by Londoner Albert Thurston, enhances the dance number and is perhaps unique in Indian cinema. Note that director SS Rajamouli insisted in interviews that RRR was by no means a Bollywood film but a Telugu language film breaking the misconception among foreign film buffs of Indian cinema meaning just “Bollywood” and nothing beyond. 

This dance which begins right in the centre of the palace gardens shifts gradually to the red carpet on the floor and as the pace speeds up, to the open grounds kicking up a lot of dust with their feet movement which the pretty young ladies try to join in laughing all the way, sometimes falling on the floor while at others, trying their best to join in the steps of the two young men.

This song-dance number that literally pays a cinematic tribute to dance can be read as a satiric comment on the British rulers, mainly composed of men which proves that these “rustic” young “native” Indians not only can carry off their Western attire with great aplomb but can also dance brilliantly in the same attire at the same time without missing out either on a single step of failing even for a fraction of a moment in their complete harmony during the dance which includes their ever-smiling, caustic facial expressions when the suited-and-booted White young men are aghast at their performance. 

Naatu Naatu is composed by MM Keeravani and the original Telugu lyrics are written by Chandrabose. Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava have sung the energetic track. KD Harisankar, Yazin Nizar, and Vishal Mishra have sung the dubbed versions. The high-octane dance sequence of the song was choreographed by Prem Rakshith. It took 20 days to complete shooting the song-dance number; 30 days of rehearsals, of which only three hook steps were approved out of 110 planned. It took 60 days to choreograph the steps which might have taken a complete film to be shot, edited and certified under normal conditions. 

Writes Shaoni Sarkar in News18 (13 January 2023) “The impact of colonialism is never over; the phenomenon having permanently altered societal structures. Still, it’s undeniable that there is a particular sensibility – an aesthetic, if you will – that relieves the ‘White Man’s Burden’. While it originated as the term for imperialists’ instinct to “civilise”, it has now shaped itself into a kind of performative guilt that allows relief while simultaneously absolving the performer of any further accountability. This is the kind of art coming out of India that the Western audience is most likely to gravitate towards. After all, it is much easier to understand the impact of colonialism rendered in broad, blunt brushstrokes – a cruel, ill-tempered white man; a group of nice and benevolent white ladies who support the Indian protagonists, and of course, the protagonists themselves. This simplistic narrative appeals to the sensibilities of Western viewers who can gesture towards themselves as enlightened individuals, having participated in and celebrated the kind of music that condemns their racist past, obfuscating the fact that racism is not in the past at all.”

Bollywood film buffs however, are convinced that MM Kreem has given better music. Among these, the top favourite is the Criminal number Tu mile, dil khile aur jeene ko kya chahiye which has become an inseparable part of our musical memory dating back to the 1990s.  There are dozens of others like Jism (Jaadu Hai Nasha Hai), Saaya (O Sathiya), Zakhm (Gali Mein Aaj Chand Nikla), Sur (Kabhi Shaam Dhale) and many more. And he did not need dance numbers like Naatu Naatu to hold these songs and prop them up. Period.