Composed by MM Keeravani and written by Chandrabose, the cross-cultural hit Naatu Naatu has been nominated for Best Original Song at the 95th Oscars set to take place on March 12 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The power-packed track features Ram Charan and Jr NTR grooving to choreographer Prem Rakshith’s incredible dance steps in SS Rajamouli’s RRR.

AR Rahman won the same award in 2009 along with the lyricist Gulzar for Slumdog Millionaire’s Jai Ho at the 81st Academy Awards in 2009. In his recent interview with ANI, the multiple National Award-winning composer said that he wants Naatu Naatu to bring back the Oscar statuette to India.

“I want Naatu Naatu to win awards, I wanted them to win the Grammy also because any award for any of us will lift India up and the concentration of our culture will become higher”, said Rahman who also won the Oscar for Best Original Score for composing brilliant tunes such as Jai Ho, Mausam & Escape, Liquid Dance, and Ringa Ringa among others for Danny Boyle’s film.

#WATCH | I want Naatu-Naatu to win awards, I want them to win the Grammy also because any award for any of us will lift India up and the concentration of our culture will become higher: AR Rehman on the song ‘Naatu Naatu’ nomination for Oscars 2023 pic.twitter.com/5yS01ma2XK

— ANI (@ANI) March 11, 2023

In a recent ‘Behind The Oscars Speech’ video, the Padma Bhushan awardee recollected a hilarious incident at the security check when he arrived with his two Oscars in India. “After I got the Oscars, I put it in my hand baggage and the security, when I was getting to India, they said, “Can you wait?”. And they were almost 100 people in the security check. So the officer took these 2 Oscars, ‘Look what I have’ and everybody went gaga. They were just, ‘Oh my God”, said Rahman.

Meanwhile, apart from Naatu Naatu, India has two other nominations at the upcoming Academy Awards. All That Breathes and The Elephant Whisperers have also been nominated in the Best Documentary Film and Best Documentary Short Film categories. The Oscars 2023 will stream in India on the morning of Monday, March 13, on Disney+ Hotstar.

READ | Meet Bomman and Bellie, the tribal couple who inspired India’s Oscar-nominated short documentary The Elephant Whisperers