SS Rajamouli RRR© Instagram

S. S. Rajamouli On The Popularity Of ‘RRR’ In The West

There is no stopping RRR. After setting the box office on fire, not just in India, but also across the world, the magnum opus has now created history by becoming the first Indian movie to win an award in the best original song category at the recently concluded 80th Golden Globe Awards ceremony.

The iconic track, ‘Naatu Naatu’ was composed by MM Keeravani, and sung by Kala Bhairava and Rahul Sipligunj, with lyrics by Chandrabose. Music director MM Keeravani accepted the award on the team’s behalf.

The movie’s director S. S. Rajamouli also opened up on the rage that the movie had garnered in the west and how it was a little surprising in the beginning, during his appearance on Seth Meyers’ late night talk show. He spoke about how he thought only friends of NRIs in the United States would watch his epic drama.

When Meyers asked him if the audience’s response in the US was exciting he said, “Exciting is an understatement. We are on top of the world. I essentially make films for Indians in India and across the globe. When we started getting appreciation from the west, our initial thought was that, ‘These guys must be the friends of our Indians who went to watch the film’.”

Opening up about how the movie started garnering a huge international following, the 49-year-old said, “Then as it started increasing when celebrities, story writers, film directors started tweeting about it, talking about it on social media. They started championing the film by word of mouth. We thought, ‘Okay, this is growing much more‘. Then, it released on Netflix and it was on the top 10 list for 15 consecutive weeks. It released in Japan, it’s still running in Japan. It is the highest-grossing Indian film ever in Japan. Oh my God,” he excitedly added.

RRR is a fictional story based on the lives of two freedom fighters, Alluri Seetharama Raju and Komaram Bheem. The movie has earned over ₹1200 crores worldwide. Apart from Jr. N.T.R. and Ram Charan, the movie also stars Alia Bhatt, Ajay Devgn and Shriya Saran.

After the historic win, Rajamouli took to Twitter and thanked everyone for showering endless love on the RRR team. He wrote, “Speechless. Music truly knows no boundaries. Congratulations & thank you PEDDANNA for giving me #NaatuNaatu. This one is special. I thank each and every fan across the globe for shaking their leg and making it popular ever since the release of #GoldenGlobes.”