RRR created history by becoming the first dance group from South Asia to win an Oscar for Naatu Naatu.
Several South Asian American dancers are determined to make sure it never occurs again nearly a week after the Oscars due to the disappointment of a missed opportunity.
The startling lack of South Asian presence in the “Naatu Naatu” performance at Sunday’s Academy Awards shocked many in the South Asian dance community.
Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava sang their popular song from the Tollywood blockbuster “RRR,” which made history for India that night by winning Best Original Song, yet not a single dancer of South Asian descent joined them on stage, according to Variety.
Particularly considering that they succeeded 14 years ago when they flawlessly staged A.R. Rahman’s “Slumdog Millionaire” hit “Jai Ho” at the 2009 Oscars as part of a widely praised four-minute medley.
“(The 2009 Oscars) had Indian singers and it was a multi-racial group of dancers and musicians,” explained Shilpa Dave, an assistant professor of media studies at the University of Virginia who specialises in the history of representations of race and gender in the media
They did a great job of demonstrating the universal power of music. People at the time didn’t have any problems because of this.
When India won Best Documentary Short on Sunday night for “The Elephant Whisperers,” directed by Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga, it was the “last straw” for dancers like Achinta S. McDaniel because there were no South Asian artists on Hollywood’s largest platform.
Founder and artistic director of the Los Angeles-based Dance Group McDaniel said, “Some people say, ‘Just be happy with what we have,’ and that’s part of [the problem] – this idea of just accepting the scraps that are tossed to you.
“Just be happy an Indian song was nominated (and won). Don’t be mad about the overwhelming racism that appeared in the performance
Two weeks prior to the Oscars, McDaniel’s agent proposed her to act as an associate consultant for the performance; however, her rep was informed that Los Angeles-based choreographers Tabitha and Napoleon D’uomo, better known as NappyTabs, had already engaged their crew.
“(Equity is) a big part of what I’m interested in, and this has galvanised so many of my colleagues in the field,” said McDaniel.
It’s plenty for now. The breaking point is now.
For South Asians in the dance community, McDaniel is holding a Zoom on Saturday to discuss the Oscars events and make plans for a South Asian Summit this summer, which she hopes to organise in conjunction with the annual conference of the national organisation Dance/USA.
This definitely sparked a fire, McDaniel said.
“So many people are logging on to Zoom so that we can begin to actually effect change. We’ve been silent for far too long.
A cross-functional advocacy organisation that can stand up for South Asian performers in times of crisis has also been discussed this week, according to Vikas Arun, a dancer and teacher based in New York who specialises in Western and Indian rhythmic and percussive dance.
The “next stage” in the discussion, according to Dave, who wrote the 2013 book “Indian Accents: Brown Voice and Race Performance in American Television and Cinema,” is to further examine the activism of South Asian entertainers.
“It’s about thinking of representation and advocacy for not just directors, writers and actors, but also performers on the larger scale as well,” said Dave. “I think dancers have been left out of this conversation. So when we’re looking at casting agencies and talent agencies, (we need to ask) where are the agents that are advocating to the establishment?”
A professional dancer and choreographer like Ramita Ravi, whose agent nominated her for the Academy Awards, says that events like the Oscars performance “sadly happen all the time.”
It’s interesting to note that, five days after the awards, there is still some uncertainty on how the production came to be. NTR Jr. and Ram Charan, stars of the film “RRR,” were originally expected to perform the dance, but Oscars producer Raj Kapoor said in an AMPAS blog that the actors withdrew because they were uncomfortable doing so given the time constraints.
As a result, Canadian-Lebanese dancer Billy Mustapha and American dancer Jason Glover—both of whom many people mistakenly believed were of South Asian descent—represented their characters on stage.
Variety was informed by a source that AMPAS had planned to fly in Indian dancers to support the performance; but, when their work visas fell through, NappyTabs were forced to recruit their own dancers.
While a source close to the production claimed AMPAS made an effort to involve the original team from India in every creative choice—a group that included the movie’s public relations staff, S.S. Rajamouli’s son Karthikeya Rajamouli, “RRR” producers, and composer M.M. Keeravaani—the outcry over the final performance also highlights the difference between what representation means for those who are citizens and those who are diasporic.
“For many South Asian Americans in the U.S., we were born and raised in America and feel a very large sense of belonging here,” explained Ravi.
“For other generations, and especially immigrants or folks living in India, it’s a bit of a different equation – they might be excited to be invited to the table, while the diaspora wants to be part of building the table. In that way, I think the idea of representation sits very differently across the diaspora.”
Dave added: “The Indian cinema industry is the largest in the world, and when you’re coming from that background and environment, you don’t see the injustices that are happening in the diaspora and in Hollywood. So (the ‘RRR’ team) was thrilled to win an Oscar – and rightly so.”
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