Rajamouli thanks Ukrainians for role in filming 'Naatu Naatu' at Kyiv's Presidential Palace

Talking about the making of the iconic ‘Naatu Naatu’ song from his period action epic, filmmaker SS Rajamouli says he is thankful to the people of Ukraine for playing a huge part in the creation of song.

‘Naatu Naatu’, composed by MM Keeravani, is nominated for the Best Original Song award at the upcoming Oscars. The song has already scooped up a Golden Globe win – the first Indian song to do so.

Rajamouli said they were originally supposed to shoot the song in India but due to the monsoon season they had to zero in on an new location – the Presidential Palace of Kyiv.

In an interview with ‘Vanity Fair’ magazine, Rajamouli said, “The first thing that comes to my mind when we talk about ‘Naatu Naatu’ is the location itself. It is shot in Kyiv, actually the Presidential Palace. This was actually supposed to happen in India but because it was monsoon time then, we were scouting for locations and we found this location.”

Also read: HCA Film Awards: Rajamouli’s RRR takes home 4 trophies

Also, he added that he had thought he would have to look for some other location as it was the Presidential Palace, but they told him, it is Ukraine, you can get the job done. “I’m so thankful to the Ukranian team. The colours of the palace, the size of the palace, the size of the ground for the dancers to be there was the exact right size,” the filmmaker pointed out.

‘RRR’ follows a pre-Independence fictional story woven around two real-life Indian revolutionaries – Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan) and Komaram Bheem (Jr NTR) – in the 1920s. The film also features Alia Bhatt, Ajay Devgn, and Shriya Saran in key roles.
It is the first Indian film in over two decades to be nominated for the Academy Awards.

In the interview, Rajamouli gave a breakdown about the making of the song, featuring Ram Charan and Jr NTR. He said apart from the lead stars, including Olivia Morris, all the other performers were professional dancers.

Also read: If you ever want to make a film in the US, let’s talk: James Cameron to Rajamouli

Credit to Prem Rakshith

“I was really surprised with the level of professionalism, I loved working with them. I have worked with choreographer Prem Rakshith before, he has worked with both Charan and Jr NTR as well… He had a difficult job as I told him that the song should (look) nice, the steps shouldn’t be too difficult, so people can also replicate, and it should suit the style of the actors… Prem came up with more than 100 variations for the hook line of ‘Naatu Naatu’, so credit to him,” the filmmaker added.

The most difficult part for both Charan and Jr NTR were the steps with the suspenders, he said.

“For both the actors the most difficult steps were the ones with the suspenders moving and sliding. It was the genius of the choreographer,” Rajamouli said. At the upcoming Oscars ceremony in Los Angeles on March 12, ‘Naatu Naatu’ singer Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava are set to perform the song.