Barring a few people from the film industry, everyone is happy when the song Naatu Naatu from the film RRR movie gets an Oscar. The reason for this displeasure is the performance of another artist instead of the original cast on the stage of Oscar. All these artists were not from India. The principal dancers in the song of the film were Junior NTR and Ramcharan Teja. While the principal dancers on the Oscars stage were Canadian dancer Billy Mustapha and American dancer Jason Glover. Many people are upset because of this. Actually the theme of the song was against the British rule. While no Asian was selected to present the dance at the Oscars. After which people argue that it is against the theme of the song. In the film, this song was a dance battle of Raju and Bhima with the Britishers.
Natu Natu’s performance on the Oscar stage was introduced by Deepika Padukone, which was sung by Rahul Sipligunj and Kaal Bhairava. After which it has now become a global track. But not a single South Asian dancer was seen among the dancers. American dancer Lauren Gottlieb was definitely seen, who is a little familiar face for India. After seeing this performance, the South Asian community living in America has expressed their displeasure.
US based dancer Zoya Nandi Kazi has also written a post about this on Instagram. He wrote that it was a matter of pride for all of us to perform Natu Natu at the Oscars. But now we feel cheated. But the song whose lyrics are that there is no better dance than desi dance, two white people have danced on it. Both of them were brilliant. But why was one of us not chosen for this. This is nothing less than a joke.
Qazi also told in an interview that his agent had also given his name. But he was not even auditioned because the team in-charge wanted to hire only those people with whom he had worked earlier. He felt that he may not have got a chance but other South Asian dancers must have got a chance. He was surprised to see that no South Asian was included in that dance.
Telugu American Film Critic Shivani Reddy says that it is surprising that the people who should have been presented in this song were completely absent. While the song was on him. It is a very bad experience because many South Asian dancers try hard for such opportunities. This time he could get that chance.
The team of Napoleon and Tabitha Dumo, known professionally as Nappi Tabs. This team directed, produced and choreographed Natu Natu for Oscars. His post related to this song is also full of such comments. In which users are advising them to present the right culture. A user also commented that this is a challenge, South Asian dancers should be hired on South Asian songs.
Oscar producer Raj Kapoor said in an interview that the original plan was to get Ram Charan and Junior NTR to perform. This dance was to be done under the supervision of RRR’s choreographer Prem Rakshith. But in February it was informed that Ramcharan and Junior NTR would definitely attend the function but they are not comfortable in performing live. We had less time for new changes and commitments had to be fulfilled.
The whole world is loving the tune of this song. When Natu Natu is played, people are dancing in the theatre. That’s why we also kept this performance global so that the universal power of music can be felt. Along with this, we also wanted to keep the original theme of the song alive. This was the reason that the producer, choreographer, leaders and singers of the film were contacted first. When both the lead actors expressed their inability, the team along with Prem teamed up with the India team and the US team to find actors who could maintain the original energy.