“Naatu Naatu,” a song from the hit Telugu-language film “RRR,” was the unexpected and historic winner for best original song at the Golden Globes Tuesday, beating out Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga and Rihanna.
The 4 1/2-minute song, whose title means “Dance Dance” in Telugu, a language predominantly spoken in the South Indian states Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, was up against Taylor Swift’s “Carolina” from “Where the Crawdads Sing,” Lady Gaga and BloodPop’s “Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick,” and Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”
The fast-paced song, which became the first Indian song to win the category, was played during a garden party in the film where main characters Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan) and Komaram Bheem (N.T. Rama Rao Jr.) outdance the many unwelcoming white guests with booming drums and whimsical string instruments.
“For people who are not used to watching Indian films — they were just wowed,” said Rochona Majumdar, a professor of cinema and media studies and a professor of South Asian languages and civilizations at the University of Chicago.
“RRR,” directed by S.S. Rajamouli, follows the complex friendship of two Indian revolutionaries who team up to fight the British Raj in 1920s pre-independence India. The film has no shortage of fantastical music numbers, fight sequences and unrealistic yet spectacular CGI animals.
The movie was also nominated for best picture in a non-English language. A Hindi version of the film, which was added to Netflix in May, quickly became the most watched non-English film on the platform for multiple weeks.
Majumdar said she was surprised but thrilled “Naatu Naatu” took home the award.
“It makes the [Golden Globes] truly global. We wouldn’t really be surprised with Rihanna or Taylor Swift winning … whereas this one, it makes you sit up,” she said. “If you’re really looking at taking other cultures seriously, which is one of…
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