California is where the Golden Globes 2023 will be held. This year’s awards show is special for a number of reasons, including the fact that the Indian film RRR received two nominations—for Best Original Song and Best Picture—for its film Naatu Naatu. The film’s nomination for Naatu Naatu in the Best Original Song category at the Golden Globes was a first for India. Kala Bhairavi and Rahul Sipligunj wrote the lyrics to the song, which was written by MM Keeravaani, a seasoned music director.
RRR is a 2022 Indian Telugu-language epic action drama film directed by S. S. Rajamouli, who co-wrote the film with V. Vijayendra Prasad. It was produced by D. V. V. Danayya of DVV Entertainment. The film stars N. T. Rama Rao Jr., Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt, Shriya Saran, Samuthirakani, Ray Stevenson, Alison Doody, and Olivia Morris. It centers around two real-life Indian revolutionaries, Alluri Sitarama Raju (Charan) and Komaram Bheem (Rama Rao), their fictional friendship, and their fight against the British Raj. Set in the 1920s, the plot explores the undocumented period in their lives when both the revolutionaries chose to go into obscurity before they began the fight for their country.
Rajamouli came across stories about the lives of Rama Raju and Bheem and connected the coincidences between them, imagining what would have happened had they met and been friends. The film was formally announced in March 2018. Principal photography of the film began in November 2018 in Hyderabad and continued until August 2021, owing to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was shot extensively across India, with a few sequences filmed in Ukraine and Bulgaria. The film’s soundtrack and background score were composed by M. M. Keeravani, with cinematography by K. K. Senthil Kumar and editing by A. Sreekar Prasad. Sabu Cyril is the film’s production designer whilst V. Srinivas Mohan supervised the visual effects.
Made on a budget of ₹550 crores ($72 million), RRR is the most expensive Indian film to date. The film was initially scheduled for theatrical release on 30 July 2020, which was postponed multiple times due to production delays and the pandemic. RRR was released theatrically on 25 March 2022, and received universal acclaim for Rajamouli’s direction, writing, performances of the cast (particularly of Rama Rao and Charan’s), soundtrack, background score, action sequences, cinematography, editing, and VFX.
With ₹240 crores (US$30 million) worldwide on its first day, RRR broke the record for the highest opening-day collection earned by an Indian film. RRR emerged as the highest-grossing film in its home market of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, grossing over ₹415 crores (US$52 million) and surpassing Rajamouli’s previous film Baahubali 2. The film grossed ₹1,200 crores (US$175 million) worldwide, setting several box office records for an Indian film, including the third highest-grossing Indian film and second highest-grossing Telugu film worldwide. It also went on to become the highest-earning Indian film in Japan. RRR became the third Indian film and the first Telugu film to receive nominations at the Golden Globes, nominated in the Best Foreign Film category and for the Best Original Song, it won later. It was nominated in three categories at the 47th Saturn Awards and won the Best International Film award. The film was considered one of the best films of the year by the National Board of Review, only the second non-English film to achieve that distinction.
