LOS ANGELES – RRR conquered the 95th Academy Awards in Los Angeles with a big win for Naatu Naatu for Best Original Song, a first for Indian production. While the high profile super-hit Telgu film about revolutionaries during British India Raj was the big winner on the night, the short documentary The Elephant Whisperer also won an Oscar, making a big Oscar night for India.

The Oscars for RRR were awarded to composer MM Keeravaani and lyricist Chandrabose for the insanely viral track from the film directed by SS Rajamouli and featuring actors Ram Charan and Jr NTR, all of whom attended the Academy Awards.

The Elephant Whisperers won Best Documentary Short Subject. 

Naatu Naatu’s global domination is complete, having also won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song in January. The song was performed live during the Oscar ceremony by singers Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava, and danced by Lauren Gottlieb.

Deepika Padukone, the third Indian to attend as a presenter after Persis Khambatta and Priyanka Chopra, introduced the performance.

“Naatu Naatu” became the first song from a Tollywood film to win best original song at the Oscars, hoofing its way past superstars like Lady Gaga and Rihanna in India’s version of a Cinderella story.

The win went to veteran composer M.M. Keeravani, who co-wrote all the songs for the film as well as its score, and lyricist Chandrabose. Their triumph followed a highly energized song-and-dance performance of “Naatu Naatu” that was, by acclamation, one of the highlights of this year’s telecast.

 “Naatu Naatu” had already been highly favored for a win, having been seen as a front-runner even before it picked up the Golden Globe for best song in January.

Composer Keeravani also gave big credit to his singers, who recreated their soundtrack performance at the Oscars: “I picked Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava to do justice to this melody and they gave their best. That’s why the song is what it is now.”

Keeravani further said, “The ‘Naatu Naatu’ song has to make you forget everything — and not just the viewer who is watching the movie, but the characters from the story, too, need to forget every other thing happening around them and pay their full attention towards the song. And the coda, the end part of the song, consists of so much stamina, you cannot call it merely a song — it is an action sequence.”

With Files from Variety