For the first time an Indian film has won a Golden Globe in the Original Song category. Ranam Rudhiram Roudram (2022), popularly known as RRR, directed by SS Rajamouli, won for the song ‘Naatu Naatu’, composed by MM Keeravani alias Maragathamani, one of the more talented musicians in the country, who prefers to be away from the limelight. In the original film in Telugu, two Indians rise to the challenge flung at them by a Briton. They ask whether he can keep pace with the speed and grace of their folk song and dance. What follows is a vigorous dance in which the Indians mesmerise the audience with their robust steps and music. While the British challenger falls flat, the British women present on the scene join the musical extravaganza.
This scene was literally re-enacted as the judges of the Golden Globes voted for ‘Naatu Naatu’ against formidable entries from European films. True, AR Rahman had in 2009 won the award for Slumdog Millionaire (2008), which was actually a British film though Indian in content and shot in India. It is an honour for the diversity of Indian music that a folk Telugu song, which is otherwise rich in rhythm and style, has won the highest award. Tens of millions of people may not know the meaning of the verse, but it is a fact that every time they hear the song, they either sing along or dance to the beats in their mind, if not on the floor. Such is the appeal of the song that it helped RRR to reach a record number of viewers the world over and collect a phenomenal sum.
Of course, success is not new to Mr Keeravani, who has a large repertoire of film songs in languages like Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu to his credit. Baahubali (2015) was one film with which his fame skyrocketed. However, there are innumerable songs whose originality in composition would surprise anyone who has only a fleeting knowledge of music. ‘Naatu Naatu’ is already available in different languages because of its popularity and appeal. Thanks to various media platforms like YouTube and OTT, films are released simultaneously in multiple languages, which the viewers can select. This has ended the pre-eminence a certain language enjoyed and made it possible for a Telugu song to reach the pinnacle of glory about which every Indian can feel proud.
Hard and soft are often real and fake
No former Chief Minister will ever praise his successor, more so when they belong to different parties. Seen against this backdrop, what former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh told this newspaper in an interview was predictable. He pooh-poohed all the claims made by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on the development front while patting his own back.
There is an element of truth in what Mr Singh says about Mr Baghel’s chances of returning to power. He will have to pull up his socks as his government completes its term in less than a year. In other words, much will depend on how he plays the endgame, to use a chess metaphor. After all, the BJP has been doing everything possible to destabilise the Congress Government since it came to power four years ago.
Anyone who critically examines Mr Baghel’s style of functioning knows he is a votary of soft Hindutva, though he does not use the term. His is, perhaps, the only non-BJP government that popularises the mythical medicinal and other properties of cow urine. He probably thinks the only way in which the BJP’s Hindutva can be countered is by promoting soft Hindutva. What he does not realise is that when the competition is between the real and the fake, people will choose the former. That is why the BJP has been finding it easy to whip up passions against Christians, forcing hundreds in the erstwhile Bastar district to flee from their villages. Just as Hindutva is the BJP’s core ideology, secularism is the core principle of the Congress. Any watering down of these ideologies will be counterproductive to the party concerned.
