Opinion Golden Globe for ‘Naatu naatu’: Don’t overread it

There seems to be a great interest in a world where the “brown bu***r”, as the protagonist is referred to in the film, rises from the ground and gives it back to the British with a song and dance sequence, winning the dance-off in the end. The dainty British women of the 1920s dance alongside two Indian men as they build the hysteria which has travelled to the theatre aisles abroad apart from building a frenzy through numerous TikTok and Instagram videos.

‘Naatu naatu’ finding so much international attention is startling and stunning in the same breath. But a deeper analysis leads to the idea that this may have to do more with RRR itself — the story of the underdog rising, the poverty-stricken India of the 1920s under British rule, wrapped in colours, costumes, nationalism, and puffy music.

But while the West’s predilection for M M Keeravani’s composition, filmed on actors NTR Junior and Ram Charan, is growing, the song is hardly exceptional. The tune, the lyrics, the singing, the expression — are all at best, ordinary. What it has in abundance is what the West values much more — sound quality, mixing, clear chords.

But what’s interesting is that every other song on the list has the latter in plenty while a couple of them are brilliant even in the former department (the tune, the lyrics, etc). In fact, Swift felt like the easy winner here with her soft, intricate ballad (‘Carolina’ from ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’), but for Rihanna closing in fast on her with a heartfelt piece (‘Lift me up’ from ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever‘) in her raspy, whisky-tinged tone. In all of this, even Gaga was in the mix. Listening to these songs, and their sheer effulgence, ‘Naatu naatu’ did not seem to have a chance.

In fact ‘Naatu naatu’ is massively at odds with some of the most brilliant film music that’s been the life and blood of the various film industries in various parts of the country but hasn’t found international nominations. This is so for several reasons, including a shortage of money, lack of awareness, and often lack of lobbying — none of which seems to be an issue for RRR. Imagine any of the fabulous Ilayaraja or A R Rahman tunes, or the brilliance of music from Madan Mohan and Naushad that never found international recognition. Or even some of M M Keeravani’s own pieces such as ‘Tum Mile’ (Criminal, 1995) and ‘Awarapan banjarapan’ (Jism, 2003), which stand ready to take on any academy anywhere, and which are so much better than ‘Naatu naatu’ in every way. Even Rahman and lyricist Gulzar’s ‘Jai ho’, the Oscar winner for 2010 in the Best Original Song category, wasn’t the composer’s best, but unlike ‘Naatu naatu’, it actually came with a clear tune and a hook.

The purpose of an award is to acknowledge the effort and encourage more of the same. Awards are based on the principle of positive reinforcement. But it will be healthier to consider this Golden Globe as a much-needed acknowledgement for Indian films in general, rather than considering this song as the epitome of our music-making abilities.