THE smash-hit song Naatu Naatu from the Telegu-language film RRR became the first Indian film song to win an Oscar for Best Original Song at the 95th Annual Academy Awards. Yet, despite the glamour of the event, there is a strong sense of dissatisfaction and resentment among many that the Oscars failed South Asians and Indians in various respects.
During a live performance of the hit song Naatu Naatu earlier in the show, many viewers lamented the absence of South Asian dancers and performers onstage. These omission are glaring considering that the context in which the song appears within the film has anti-colonialist undertones.
The 'choreographers' for the Oscars performance were Napoleon and Tabitha Dumo, known together as Nappytabs, from the reality show So You Think You Can Dance.
The dancers who portrayed the lead characters, alongside the film’s playback singers Kaala Bhairava and Rahul Sipligunj, are confirmed to be Billy Mustapha, a Lebanese-Canadian dancer, and Jason Glover, an American dancer. Both Mustapha and Glover appear to have entered the spotlight through So You Think You Can Dance.
The only person from the list of performers with any link to India was Lauren Gottlieb – an American actor and dancer who as worked in various Hindi-language films. such as ABCD: Any Body Can Dance (2013).
A TikTok user called Maheetha Bhardhwaj (@dancing_uro_doc) uploaded a video that went viral expressing her unhappiness with the Academy's decision. Others have since joined to voice out their disappointment.
Joya Kazi, an LA-based choreographer and member of the Television Academy who worked on Never Have I Ever, New Girl, and more, posted on Instagram that her agents submitted her as a potential choreographer and while she didn’t think anything of not booking the gig, she was shocked to see Gottlieb’s videos on Saturday.
“I was told that the choreographers want to work with dancers they already know,” Kazi wrote in her post. “I get it. I also don’t need to book everything under the sun, because there are plenty of talented South Asian dancers and choreographers to choose from… but… respectfully… where is the representation?”
Ramita Ravi, dancer and choreographer said ahead of event the that she wasn’t surprised by the decision, and has grown “numb” to occurrences like this.
“Here are people like me, like Joya, like Kavita Rao, like Achinta [McDaniel], like Nakul [Dev Mahajan] who have very, very much been in the industry,” she told IndieWire ahead of the Oscars. “[We] have the agents, have the reps, have union status, have all of it and still were not … considered for a job like this where it’s our culture on display.”
The song’s choreography and instruments are rooted in the South Indian 'Kuthu' and 'Teenmaar' styles that originate from the states of Tamil Nadu and Telangana. “Kuthu,” meaning 'punch' in Tamil, and 'Teenmaar,' meaning 'three sounds' in Telegu, are lesser-known informal folk genres that utilize percussion instruments and vigorous dance moves.
Music manager Divya Jethwani (@adaywithdivya) also took to Instagram to express her dismay with the selection of what she described as 'brown-passing' dancers in lieu of those with South Asian heritage for the stage performance.
In an interview with Hyperallergic, Jethwani, a co-founder at an emerging label said that the significance of the film scene’s anti-colonial stance “was basically entirely wiped when they had Brown-passing people having their hands up as if they played two Indian revolutionaries.”
“That just killed it for so many people and it just took away what that story actually meant and why RRR deserved to be recognized the way that it was recognized,” Jethwani continued.
What was also glaring was Deepika Padukone became the third Indian actrees in the Academy’s history to be invited as a presenter – but just to introduce India's Naatu Naatu on stage, and not to give an award. Prior to her, only two Indian actresses, Persis Khambatta in 1980 and Priyanka Chopra in 2016 were selected as presenters. – The Vibes, March 14, 2023
* The performance from the film itself:
