MM Keeravani, winner of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) Best Music Score award for his work on the global blockbuster “RRR”, has thanked maestro John Williams for teaching him the importance of ‘simplicity’ in film soundtracks. Keeravani was named as the recipient of the honor early last month and received the trophy in person at a function held at Millennium Hotels & Resorts here recently. Directed by filmmaker SS Rajamouli, “RRR” is a pre-independence fictional story centered on two real-life Indian revolutionaries in the 1920s – Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem, essayed by Ram Charan and Jr. NTR respectively.
Keeravani, who earlier this week won the Golden Globe for ‘Best Original Song – Motion Picture’ for the film’s Telugu track “Naatu Naatu”, also thanked Rajamouli for believing in her and giving her creative freedom. “I thank my brother and the director of ‘RRR’ for believing in me and giving me all the freedom I asked for and appreciating my music. Thank you Rajamouli,” he said after accepting the award. He recalled how watching the 1975 natural horror classic “Jaws” directed by Steven Spielberg changed the way he looked at music. The film’s music was composed by legendary composer John Williams and earned him his second Academy Award.
“I learned a lesson when I saw the movie ‘Jaws’. Whenever there was a shark coming, there was a danger signal. I was expecting an intricate and complex musical with a rich orchestration, but I was shocked as it was very Was humble and simple. Many thanks to John Williams Sir for teaching me the lessons of simplicity and humility and being my inspiration for all these years.”
“RRR” also received five nominations for the Critics’ Choice Awards – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Song for “Naatu Naatu”, and Best Visual Effects. It won Best Foreign Language Film but lost the VFX, Best Picture and Best Director awards. “Naatu Naatu” also features in the Oscar shortlist announced last month Last week, the film made it to the BAFTA longlist for the ‘Film Not in English Language’ category.