Exclusive | Naatu Naatu choreographer Prem Rakshith on RRR song’s win: ‘I cried in my washroom for 1.5 hours’

In an exclusive interaction with indianexpress.com, Prem says, “I went blank. I cried in my washroom for more than one and a half hours. It felt like it was not possible but it actually happened because of Rajamouli sir’s hard work. I am so happy. It all happened because of the two heroes, Jr NTR annaya and Charan sir because they both are very good dancers. Keeravani sir’s music has taken off all the weight.”

Prem Rakshith (center) with music composer MM Keeravani (left) and filmmaker SS Rajamouli.

Praising Rajamouli, he adds, “Rajamouli sir told me everything. What song is going to happen, what is the concept, everything.”

While the artistes took around 20 days to rehearse and shoot “Naatu Naatu”, Prem invested two months to prepare the steps for the dance. “Naatu Naatu” is a very high-on-energy dance number but the actors didn’t want any breaks while shooting the song.

“The actors didn’t want any breaks because they are very dedicated. Both Charan sir and Tarak annaya are very dedicated,” says Prem and he adds, “Whatever I told them, they did it. After the pack-up, Rajamouli sir used to do rehearsals with us. So, we would wake up at 6 am and sleep by 10 pm. They all worked very hard.”

“Naatu Naatu” song is composed by MM Keeravani, and is sung by Kaal Bhairava and Rahul Sipligung. The song was dubbed in Tamil as Naattu Koothu, in Hindi as Naacho Naacho, in Malayalam as Karinthol and in Kannada as Haali Naatu.

Choreographer Prem Rakshith with actor Ram Charan on the sets of RRR.

Both Ram Charan and Jr NTR are known for their dancing prowess and in the words of Prem, “one is lion while another one is cheetah”. The only concern the choreographer had was to match their style, which led him to come up with as many as 118 different steps for the song.

“They are both good dancers but the difficult thing was their style. They both had to do be synchronised and I didn’t know how to do that. We developed it all from zero. They have to match and that means that I have to give something new, which is perfect for both of them. I can’t give steps which only Charan sir would dance to and Tarak sir won’t,” he said.

The choreographer, who lives in Hyderabad and hails from Pondicherry, reveals that he faced difficult situations while shooting for “Naatu Naatu” and had to stay focused. He recalls, “I composed more than 118 steps for this song. Usually, per song we compose 2-3 steps but we were going ahead and making so many steps.”

The global recognition for Prem Rakshith’s work can give him opportunities beyond the Indian film industry, but he is a proud Indian first. “As an Indian, I feel very proud. There are a lot of opportunities in and around India. Why do we have to search for it internationally? Now we have got the Golden Globe award, I feel we should go higher.”

Prem credits his parents, brother and wife for their support in his journey as a choreographer and has high hopes for RRR at the Oscars. Before signing off, he says, “By Sai Baba’s grace, I hope it (Oscar win) happens. We have won the Golden Globe and by his grace, everything will happen.”