Sorry, Rihanna and Lady Gaga — you got beat by dancing Indian revolutionaries.
“Naatu Naatu,” from the Indian film RRR, won Best Original Song at Sunday night’s Academy Awards, beating out songs by Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Diane Warren and rocker David Byrne.
One of the song’s composers, M. M. Keeravani, took the podium and told the audience, “I grew up listening to The Carpenters. Tonight, I’m here with The Oscars!” He then sang a parody of The Carpenters’ hit “Top of the World,” changing the lyrics to reflect his hopes that he’d win, and that the Oscars would “put me on the top of the world.”
“Naatu Naatu,” the first song from an Indian film to be nominated for Best Original Song, is sung in the Telugu language, which is spoken mostly Southern India. The title translates to “local, local.”
Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
