Billy Mustafa and Jason Glover perform ‘Natu Natu’ at the 95th Oscars | Photo: AP
The historic reception of ‘Naatu Naatu’ at the 95th Academy Awards is now mired in controversy.
SS Rajamouli’s global blockbuster anthem RRR It is the first Indian production film to win the Best Original Song award at the Oscars.
However, before and after the Oscars telecast on March 12, many people objected to the exclusion of dancers and choreographers of South Asian origin from the live rendition of ‘Naatu Naatu’ at the Oscars ceremony.
Composed by MM Keeravani and written by Chandrabose, ‘Naatu Naatu’ is a thumping dance number. ram charan and in Jr. NTR RRR,
The Telugu-language song is known for its energetic beats and strong anti-colonial lyrics.
‘Naatu Naatu’, which also won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song earlier this year, was performed live by Keeravani at the 95th Academy Awards ceremony and was sung by its original singers Rahul Sipligunj and Kaal Bhairav. The track was performed on stage by Indian star Deepika Padukone, who called it a ‘total banger’. However, the accompanying dance performance was choreographed by US-based duo Tabitha and Napoleone D’Umo, who together are known as the Nappytabs.
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Furthermore, the 20 dancers performing the lead numbers, including Jason Glover and Billy Mustafa, were not of Indian or South Asian descent, as many reported. (Jason Glover is American while Moustafa is a Lebanese-Canadian.)
This has led to allegations of boycotting and race pass against the Oscars.
In an Instagram post, Zoya Kazi, an Indian-American dancer and choreographer, wrote that the performance of Naatu Naatu made her feel ’empty and cheated’.
“A song about colonialism and lyrics that say no dance is as good as that performed by two brown men,” Kazi wrote, “the Indian community’s professional dancers are predominantly South Asian artists.” Why can’t it be taken with as lead. ,
“The colonizers are part of the joke of this song and also want to recreate the scene from the movie with the group of men, which should be local but South Asian makes me vacillate between being flirtatious and laughing at the irony. We have to do better,” Kazi wrote.
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Indian-origin Canadian YouTuber Lilly Singh, who also hosted the Oscars pre-show event, shared pictures with Ram Charan, Chandrabose and others, wishing for more South Asian representation at the Oscars.
“Hopefully next year, we can see even more South Asian representation on that stage as presenters, nominees, winners and dancers (that Natu Natu performance was EPIC but I wish South Asian dancers get to be a part of it) get a chance),” wrote Singh.
Earlier on Tuesday, the academy published an interview with Oscar producer Raj Kapoor on its Website,
Kapoor claimed that, while preparing for the ‘Naatu Naatu’ performance, she had demanded participation from original choreographer Prem Rakshit and stars Ram Charan and Jr. NTR.
However, in late February, Kapoor and his team were informed that the actor ‘didn’t feel comfortable doing the number live on stage’.
Kapoor further stated that while the original RRR The sequence has background dancers who are predominantly Caucasian, they wanted their 20 assistant dancers to be from ‘diverse and all different backgrounds’ (previously, a rep from the Academy told indiewire It was “wrong” that there were few, if any, South Asian actors in the performance).
With ‘Natu Natu’, Kartiki Gonsalves’ the elephant whisperer Also won from India for Best Documentary Short Film at the 95th Academy Awards. The moment was considered one of the biggest for Indian representation at the Oscars.