MM Keeravani stands tall at Academy Awards - it is 'Nattu, Nattu' - పొలం గట్టు దుమ్ములోన !!

சங்கீத ஸ்வரங்கள் ஏழே கணக்கா, இன்னும் இருக்கா என்னவோ மயக்கம்

.. .. by any chance do you remember this Tamil song !!

The statuettes are solid bronze and plated in 24-karat gold. Due to a metal shortage during World War II, they  were made of painted plaster for three years. Following the war, the Academy invited recipients to redeem the plaster figures for gold-plated metal ones.

It is the ‘Oscars” – the prestigious awards from 1927 till date.   Today, the globe is glued to 95^th Academy Awards at  Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.  By every description, the  95^th  Academy Awards belonged to Everything Everywhere All at Once, that scored multiple awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor in a Supporting Role and Best Actress in a Supporting Role, among other categories… .. and .. .. and the Telegu tinseldom is rejoicing !

Since the initial awards banquet on May 16, 1929, in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel’s Blossom Room, more than 3,000 statuettes have been presented. Each January, additional new golden statuettes are cast by Polich Tallix fine art foundry in New York’s Hudson Valley.  Oscar stands 13½ inches tall and weighs in at a robust 8½ pounds.  Officially named the Academy Award of Merit, the statuette is better known by its nickname, Oscar. While the origins of the moniker aren’t clear, a popular story has it that upon seeing the trophy for the first time, Academy librarian (and eventual executive director) Margaret Herrick remarked that it resembled her Uncle Oscar.   

Koduri Marakathamani Keeravani is flying on skies.  The  Indian music composer, record producer, singer, actor  and lyricist’s   accolades include an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a LAFCA Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, a National Film Award, eight Filmfare Awards and eleven Nandi Awards.  This year he has been honoured with Padma Shri too.   

Today MM Keeravani, as Maragathamani is now known won the Oscar – Music for Original Song  - the song ‘Nattu, nattu’ written by Chandrbose.  The other nominees on this category were :  Applause from Tell it like a woman, Hold my hand from Top Gun,  Life me up from Black Panther, This is a life from  Everything Everywhere All at Once.

 

పొలం గట్టు దుమ్ములోన  !!   పోట్లగిత్త దూకినట్టు

పోలేరమ్మ జాతరలో పోతరాజు ఊగినట్టు

Heard this song, felt like dancing to its tunes !!

Poleramma Jatharalo, Potharaju Ooginattu,

Polamgattu Dhummulona, Potla Gittha Dhookinattu,

Like the lead dancer dancing at a local goddess’s festival.. ..

Like an aggressive bull jumping in the dust of the fields

 

The song features  Ram (Ram Charan) and Bheem (N. T. Rama Rao Jr.) singing the lyrics and out-dancing the rich British men at a fancy British party, encouraged by Bheem's love interest Jenny (Olivia Morris). By the song's climax, Ram and Bheem ignite a dance battle between themselves and the British men, who each fall down one by one as they fail to keep up; and despite being cheered for, Ram pretends to injure his leg and falls over to allow Bheem to win the battle and impress Jenny. The dance was choreographed by Prem Rakshith. 

The movie set in the surroundings of a century back, in  1920, during the British Raj, administrator Scott Buxton and his wife Catherine visit a forest in Adilabad, where they abduct Malli, a young girl with a talent for artistry, from the Gond tribe. Enraged by the act, the tribe's guardian Komaram Bheem, embarks to Delhi with the intent of rescuing her.  Elsewhere, the Nizamate of Hyderabad, sympathetic to the Raj, warns Scott's office of the impending danger. At Bheem's public flogging, Raju attempts to persuade him into recanting his actions; the former chooses to be flogged instead.  In honor of completing their respective missions, Raju asks Bheem to let him grant a wish for him, to which, Bheem asks Raju to provide education to him and his community.

Recently, in Jan 2023,  this song came out of nowhere beating  Hollywood stalwarts like Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and Rihanna.  The 80th Golden Globe Awards were held in Los Angeles on January 11 (IST). Indian film RRR won Best Original Song for ‘Naatu Naatu’ at the ceremony. Music director MM Keeravani collected the trophy.   In the Best Original Song category, ‘Naatu Naatu’ competed against – ‘Carolina’ (Taylor Swift) from Where the Crawdads Sing, ‘Ciao Papa’ (Alexandre Desplat, Roeban Katz, and Guillermo del Toro) – Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,  ‘Hold My Hand’ (Lady Gaga, BloodPop, and Benjamin Rice) – Top Gun: Maverick and ‘Lift Me Up’ (Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler, and Ludwig Göransson) – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The film was also nominated for Best Non-English Language Film. In the Best Non-English Language Film category, RRR lost to Argentina’s Argentina, 1985.  

 

Really this song has now made the entire globe look up towards Telegu tinseldom.

If you remember that song at the start – it was from Azhagan starring Mammooty, directed by K Balachander released I 1991.  Maragathamani (yes the same MM Keeravani) was its music director.

Interestingly, Oscar award cannot be bought at Nachimuthu store or at Sootheby or elsewhere.  According to the Academy's rulebook, if a winner wants to sell his or her Oscar, he or she must offer it to the Academy, which may pay one dollar for the statuette. "Academy Award winners have no rights whatsoever in the Academy copyright or goodwill in the Oscar statuette or in its trademark and service mark registrations," reads the rule. 

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
13^th Mar 2023.