Karthikeya, the son of director S.S. Rajamouli, writes an emotional letter as RRR marks its first anniversary.
The epic film “RRR,” directed by S.S. Rajamouli, has been in theatres for a year and continues to attract fans throughout the world.
S.S. Karthikeya, Rajamouli’s son, used the occasion to post on Twitter in honour of the movie’s first anniversary.
He wrote a lengthy letter about the conception of the Oscar-winning movie song “Naatu Naatu” and the subsequent Ukrainian filming of it.
Karthikeya posted the note with the caption: “Probably, the most eventful year in my life. From the release of RRR to the Oscars. Will forever cherish this.”
The note started on an emotional beat, as it read: “Today is deeply emotional as it marks the completion of 1 year since the release of RRR, and the most glorious 365 days of uninterrupted celebrations. I’d like to ask you for a moment to share my love and thoughts.”
Karthikeya then reminisced about the time when the idea of the song came into existence: “Cut back to 2017 – the very idea of featuring two of the country’s biggest stars in one film sparked immense excitement in me and among everyone. Among the number of mind-bending sequences in the movie, one sequence which stood out and created a wave across the globe is ‘Naatu Naatu’. We all were obviously expecting a dance number, but I sure wasn’t able to imagine the context and the ‘HOW’. When Baba narrated the face-off sequence and the set-up, I was psyched out of my mind!
“As a crew member, I couldn’t wait to show this to everyone on the big screen and simultaneously as an audience, I couldn’t wait to watch it on the big screen! This power-packed dance number was like a movie by itself for me. Keeravaani Babai’s massy and electrifying tunes coupled with Bhairava’s final touch to the programming gave us goosebumps. After being energised by the magic of the audio, (programmed by Jeevan and Siddhu and sung by Bhairava and Rahul) began the visual rampage of Prem Master! The brief was simple – the dance moves should neither be too easy nor too complicated,” the note further read.
Karthikeya, in the note, said: “Prem Master then embarked on a long, relentless and arduous journey of choreographing the most challenging dance number ever… getting the country’s finest two dancers to dance together for the 1st time! He choreographed 120+ variations of the moves in a span of 2 months, from which around 15 or 20 were retained for the song. He kept rotating his crew as they used to get exhausted and couldn’t keep up with the rigour and pace of the steps.”
“The unwavering dedication, support and professionalism of our crew in Ukraine made our journey a smooth one and the ‘Naatu Naatu‘ you see today possible. We will always have a special place in our hearts for our ‘Ukraine family’. Once our brilliant actors – Tarak anna and my brother Charan entered the sets, we quickly realised something big was in the making. Their blazing dance, the magical choreography, the pulsating music, and the overall vibe, the way all the elements complemented each other, made us believe that the theatres were going to be on fire. Without a doubt!” he added.
Thanking the fans, Karthikeya said: “We believe that the main reason ‘Naatu Naatu’ reached the Oscars is our fans and their unconditional love and unprecedented support until it became a global sensation. They made the song immortal not only on social media by carrying on their shoulder but also created euphoria which made it a part of sub-culture in many countries. We were elated when we conquered the box office across India and gained momentum in the west after toiling for years. However, little did we know that the best was yet to come, and we had barely started our journey.
“When Dylan, Josh Hurtado, Divergent, Accolade and Cinetic joined our family, it wasn’t just a synergy of experience and expertise… it was a synergy of love, dreams, passion and a shared vision. The common love helped us scale ‘RRR’ to unfathomable heights together. They reignited ‘RRR’ and Naatu Naatu’s hype in the West, reinvigorated our dreams of conquering the global stage and helped us reimagine the true potential of our film. They were our biggest cheerleaders who paved the way to the Oscars and saw a new beginning when we saw a glorious end.”
“While everyone says ‘RRR’ scripted history, it has transcended beyond a film to become a phenomenon, era, milestone and pride in all our careers. We will carry this in our hearts with humility and work more to make our nation more proud,” he concluded.
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