RRR’s Natu Natu has been nominated in the Best Original Song category at the 95th Oscars.
Shriya Saran had previously worked with SS Rajamouli in the Telugu action drama Chhatrapati (2005).
Film lovers across India are looking forward to the 95th Academy Awards, which is scheduled to air this March 13 at 5:30 am IST. Superstar Ram Charan and Jr NTR’s song Naatu Naatu in filmmaker SS Rajamouli’s epic actioner RRR (2022) has bagged an Oscar nomination, thus becoming the first Indian song to be nominated at the prestigious award ceremony. It has already won Best Original Song at the 2023 Golden Globes, along with several other honors at global award ceremonies.
Ahead of the big day, News18 exclusively spoke to actress Shriya Saran, who played the role of Sarojini in the film. Sharing her excitement, she tells us, “I spoke to Rajamouli sir recently. Isn’t it amazing that your song is being performed on the Oscars stage? This is a huge, huge achievement. I have said it many times and I will say it many times that the film is there because of Rajamouli sir’s faith in him. He had a dream to make a film and he did and he believed in it. She further adds, “It is a simple story of two good people and the freedom struggle. But the way he has narrated the story, shown the film and the way he has put in the hard work, has taken the film to where it is today.”
Saran previously collaborated with Rajamouli in the Telugu action drama Chhatrapati (2005). And while the director had become one of the most sought-after names in showbiz after the success of the Baahubali series, he revealed that there was no difference in the way people were treated during the making of RRR. “When I went to the RRR sets, the same people were there who were doing Chhatrapati. I met the same people, the same cameraman… His wife got us lunch and we all sat together and ate,” she says.
Recalling the moments during the shoot, Saran says, “Charan would come and joke and then Taarak would come. It was great fun! I remember Ajay Devgan (actor) saying, ‘You guys have so much love for each other, it’s unbelievable!’ You simply cannot contain love and that is what you feel on the sets of a Rajamouli sir film. You feel not just love for each other but also love for cinema and love for making a film a big film. That makes the whole set shiver.”
And he believes that it is this love and positivity that has translated into so many awards and accolades for RRR. “I think it is the kind of love that will take any film anywhere. Hats off to Rajamouli sir for living the film and making a film like RRR and keeping it true to India! they made an indian film and took it there [the West], I have a lot of respect for him,” expressed the 40-year-old.
The Gaanam (2021) and Drishyam 2 (2022) actor became the target of speculation when a news article falsely quoted him a few years ago as saying that he had been dropped from Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017). Recalling the episode, she elaborates, “The funny thing is that when Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) came, I called him and I told him that I wanted to be a part of Baahubali: The Conclusion. In an interview someone asked me what I thought about Baahubali and I told them, ‘I don’t know why I am not in it.’ And then they made it a big deal. It was a very controversial interview. She further adds, “It was said that I was thrown out of Baahubali and there was a whole drama around it (laughs). I called up Rajamouli sir and told him, ‘I didn’t say that. I want to be a part of your film but this is crazy news!
So, what was his reaction when he was offered RRR? “When he called me for RRR, I told him that I will do it without hearing the script. It honestly didn’t matter what I was doing in the film. At that time we did not know that RRR would become so big. All I knew was that I wanted to work with Rajamouli sir again and I am glad I did,” says the actor, who will be next seen in the multilingual period action film Kabzaa.
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