The 95th Academy Awards will be held on March 13 (IST) in Los Angeles. The producers of the event announced on Tuesday that RRR’s track Naatu Naatu, which has been nominated for the ceremony under the category of Best Song, will be performed live at the event. The song will be performed by singers Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava and it will mark their Oscar debut.
The official Twitter handle of the Oscars announced the news on Tuesday, writing, “Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava. “Naatu Naatu." LIVE at the 95th Oscars. Tune into ABC to watch the Oscars LIVE on Sunday, March 12th at 8e/5p! #Oscars95.”
With its catchy chorus and accompanying dance by stars Ram Charan and Jr NTR, Naatu Naatu is one of the most remembered scenes from the Telugu-language action epic RRR. It features music by MM Keeravaani and lyrics by Chandrabose. It is still unconfirmed whether Ram Charan or Jr. NTR would also join Rahul and Kaala Bhairava for the Oscars performance.
Naatu Naatu has amassed over 122 million views on YouTube. The song received the Golden Globe for Best Original Song in January. At the 28th annual Critics' Choice Awards, RRR won two more prizes, five days later.
At the Academy Awards, the song is up against tracks like This Is A Life from Everything Everywhere All at Once, Applause from Tell It Like a Woman, Raise Me Up from Black Panther, and others in the category for best original song. On Oscar night, Rihanna will perform Raise Me Up, while David Byrne, Stephanie Hsu, and Son Lux will perform This Is a Life. This year, Jimmy Kimmel will host the awards ceremony.
Several months prior to the start of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine, Naatu Naatu was filmed at the Mariinsky Palace (Ukraine Presidential Palace) in Kyiv. Recently, a Tik Tok featuring South Korean Ambassador Chang Jae-bok dancing on Naatu Naatu, is going viral on the internet. The clip has registered more than 4,8 million views on Twitter till now.