After the song ‘Naatu Naatu’ bagged the prestigious Golden Globe Award under the ‘Best Original Song’ category, there has been a lot of debate online about whether the song was actually that good so as to deserve such an iconic award. Yes, on the one hand there were thousands of people celebrating the win as it was a huge moment for Indian cinema but on the other hand, many people were critical of the worthiness of the song.
Journalist Nikhil Inamdar who currently works for BBC took to Twitter to express that ‘Naatu Naatu’, in his opinion, is “distinctly mediocre” and it is a “tragedy” that it is being judged as our “best”.
Heard #NaatuNaatu for the first time today. What a tragedy that something so distinctly mediocre is judged our best!#GoldenGlobes2023 #RRR
— Nikhil Inamdar (@Nik_Inamdar) January 11, 2023
Like most topics, here too people were split into two groups, arguing whether or not what Nikhil said made sense. One group of people agreed with his take and said that there is much better music and much better songs written and produced by Indian artists that can top ‘Naatu Naatu’ any time.
Well said, serious Indian cinema does not win, but rubbish like #SlumdogMillionaire & complete nonsense which caters to a white audience’s needs for “Indian musicals & exoticism” is celebrated … #Swades or an #Aakrosh do not get nominated but these … that is our reality
— NK (@NaraayanKannan) January 11, 2023
Good for dancing 😂😂 shaking a leg in Delhi winter
— PatralekhaChatterjee পত্রলেখা চ্যাটার্জী (She/Her) (@patralekha2011) January 11, 2023
It’s cringe. But people like cringe these days. So, what can you say?🤷♂️
— Political Darjee (@PoliticalDarjee) January 12, 2023
Felt the same about #JaiHo That song won’t even make my Top 25 favorites of @arrahman
To be fair @goldenglobes and #Oscars are not looking at the entire body of work of these fantastic music directors but they are just picking the best of the 5 nominations.
— Tharuthalai (@indian_toronto) January 11, 2023
However, another group of people said that when songs like ‘Naatu Naatu’ and ‘Jai Ho’ etch Indian artists in History, then it creates room for other worthy artists to be discovered by the world. It is important when it comes to representation.
Also, if you look at the song in its entirety – the context in which it is placed in the film, the choreography, the beats, etc. – it is probably the best original soundtrack that has come out of India in the past year. The song is much more than some electrifying dance steps and upbeat music. It has a much more significant take on people rising against racism and colonialism.
At a time when most film industries are surviving on remakes and “inspired” music, lifting off beats and lyrics from here and there, it is important to appreciate originality.
That’s absolutely fine. It opens doors for them to discover our best.
Happened with AR & Jai Ho too.
Good people, eventually, get discovered 🙂 https://t.co/l1jKdWz65f
— Mangalam Maloo (@blitzkreigm) January 11, 2023
Their best. Not our best
— Harini Calamur (@calamur) January 11, 2023
It’s ok. Even Jai Ho wasn’t Rehman’s best. This might help others.
— Mubarak (@mubarak_1106) January 11, 2023
Naatu Naatu fucking rules
— Joshua Gray (@MrJoshuaGray) January 12, 2023
That’s your opinion which everyone is entitled to. What’s sad is you can’t find it in you to celebrate another Indian’s success. It shouldn’t matter what you think. I love the song btw, it’s full on energy and a mood lifter. 💃🏻🕺🏻 @RRRMovie @ssrajamouli #NatuNatu
— Ashish Shah 🇮🇳🌈🧘🏻♂️🏞️📷🎧🐟 (@rayofash73) January 11, 2023
Yeah man…. Absolutely roobish mate… Totally kinda like not deserving…hum bahut gussa howta Aisa sowng ko award milta .. pic.twitter.com/YB95unzRtQ
— Mike_maitreya (@Mike_maitreya) January 11, 2023
It wasn’t judged our best. It was judged better than the other original scores for the year.
Lobbying aside, the song carried a mammoth wave of emotion in real and reel life, across continents.So you’re the one judging, from whatever pedestal you think your taste is on.
— Raghav Mulpuru (@RudRAghav) January 11, 2023
The song is not a typical narrative break-out song, there is a purpose, the lyrics speak of standing up against racism nd colonialism and challenging the oppressors!! there is much larger purpose and meaning to that song in the film!!
— sharath (@tyriontheking) January 11, 2023
We happened to look through the criteria based on which filmmakers qualify to pitch their projects for the Golden Globes. It is fairly critical and to-the-point and hence, not many films qualify in the first place. You may read the eligibility criteria here.
Instead of criticizing and invalidating the hard work that is put into putting Indian cinema on the global map, maybe we can all just celebrate this historic win?