Original Song trophy for RRR's Naatu Naatu at Golden Globes: Did Bollywood musicians take note?

At a time the Hindi film and non-film music industry adamantly refuses to give up its fetish for quick fix remixes, or recreations as they are fashionably called these days, the Telugu blockbuster _RRR_ has gone ahead and won Best Original Song at the Golden Globes, for the catchy Naatu Naatu number. The catchy song is already garnering an Oscar buzz, too, for composer MM Keeravani and his collaborator lyricist Chandrabose. As the fast-paced number, built entirely on Indian beats, continues to enjoy international attention, its success augur simplications about how the West loves to perceive and accepts Indian mainstream entertainment. Understanding why the West is rooting for Naatu Naatu, in this context, also helps fathom why most of what the Hindi music industry has generated lately has struggled to create significant impact anywhere. There’s a wake-up call in this for new-age composers of Hindi songs to look beyond the fleeting craze bred by theirrehashed sound of music,which has come to be typified as an overdone mix of Sufi/Punjabi/folk tunes and EDM beats occasionally punched with rap interludes. Like AR Rahman’s Oscar and Golden Globe-winning Jai Ho in Slumdog Millionaire, Naatu Naatu is surely not the best composition of its creator. But, just like Jai Ho, the RRR song finds an X-factor in its instant ability to connect with listeners. Both these numbers are created out of simplistic, original sounds that have a universal appeal. Both songs hark back to a joie de vivre that traditionally defines popular Indian cinema as well as its music, as sources of mass entertainment. Importantly, both songs are about an energetic beat. In the case of Naatu Naatu, Keeravani mentions the authentic Indian beat of the song is its trumpcard, pointing at how the beat is unlike anything being done in the West. “The beat is 6/8.That’s not very frequently heard from the West, but more frequently heard from India and sometimes from Africa and countries like that,” he told Variety, adding thatthe beat was “what primarily got the attention of the western audience”. Compare that to the Hindi film music scene of last year, when almost every hit song cutting across genres — from Kesariya to Rangi Sari, from Thumkeshwari to Kinna sona and from Doobey to Kaala jaadu — revealed elaborate western hangover in tune and/or beat. The remixed/recreated lot was expectedly far from originality, too, with hits such as Manike or the Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 title track merely rehashing what worked before. Sanjay Leela Bhansali characteristically stuck to Indian notes in Gangubai Kathiawadi, but the filmmaker has always been an exception than rule in Bollywood. Interestingly, Naatu Naatu, has made a bigger impact with its Hindi version, Naacho Naacho, on the internet. Sung by Vishal Mishra and Rahul Sipligunj to Riya Mukherjee’s lyrics, Naacho Naacho, recorded for the Hindi version of RRR, has 220 million views (and counting) on the song’s official YouTube page, as compared to around 113 million views (and counting) for Naatu Naatu on the same platform. The success story has repeated itself for the song in its Kannada (Halli Naatu), Tamil (Naattu Koothu) and Malayalam (Karinthol) versions, too. The Globes have, of course, recognised the original Telugu song and the frenzy generated by Naatu Naatu is not just about its beat or lyrics. A large part of the song’s global popularity is due to the distinct picturisation that RRR director SS Rajamouli came up with. Despite being picturised as a formulaic dance number, Naatu Naatu like Jai Ho successfully brings alive on screen the vim that the song’s tune and lyrics express. The song recorded in the voices of Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava in its Telugu version sets up a spirited ‘naatu’ mood — the word means dance in the language. On cue, Rajamouli trains focus entirely on the dancing skills of the two heroes of his film, Ram Charan and NTR Jr, rather than spend effort or expense on a lavish set or elaborate VFX to jazz up the look of the song. As the two stars, super dancers both, bring alive the feisty hook step of the number in a party sequence, the impact of the lyrics hits you — dance wantonly as a raging bull in an open field, as a dancer at a ritual to pay obeisance to the deity, like the rhythm of a drum that hastens the beats of your heart and, this has to be pick of the lot — dance like you chewed green chilli. As those lyrics underline, there is a celebration of extravagantly mounted camp in the song that, in turn, defines the essence of the film itself. It is a tone of entertainment Bollywood seems to be rapidly forgetting, consumed by the current wave of serving sanitised realism in the name of delivering social message. Mainstream Hindi films have been touching upon a gamut of socially relevant themes lately, but mostly failing to drive home any sort of impact owing to muddled writing and filmmaking. New-age Hindi filmmakers want to portray realism, yet they cannot do away with played-to-gallery entertainment that might fetch returns for their producers. Their treatment of songs has mostly suffered similar confusion. Hindi filmmakers wanting to incorporate songs in their narratives mostly go for one of two options — the songs are either forced into the narrative as dance items or they play out as part of the film’s background score minus lip-synch. In the first case, the emphasis on the dance takes away focus from the song and in the second, the song becomes secondary to the plot for any sort of effect. The success of Naatu Naatu in the West shows that, when it comes to India, the international audience loves watching original, over-the-top entertainment served desi style. Naatu Naatu, an unadulterated naach-gaana package that matches Rajamouli-size drama and epic action, has found favour among western audiences and awards ceremony voters. In the West’s era of inclusivity, this holdsthe promise of wonderful times ahead for Indian showbiz. Bollywood needs to take note. Vinayak Chakravorty is a critic, columnist and film journalist based in Delhi-NCR. Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News,  India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and Instagram.