Why ‘Naatu Naatu’ Deserves Better

From terming the Telugu song as a ‘Bollywood’ composition to the lack of South Asian presence at its performance on the Oscars stage, the West needs to understand the nuances of representation from the subcontinent and its diaspora

With an unforgettably catchy beat and energetic dance moves, the Telugu song, Naatu Naatu, from SS Rajamouli’s movie RRR brought home the Oscar in the Best Original Song category last night. Composed by MM Keeravani with lyrics by Chandrabose, Naatu Naatu has also won a Golden Globe, garnered views from millions on TikTok and YouTube globally, and features thoughtful lyrics on male friendship and national identity. Along with the win last night, the song was performed on the prestigious stage of the 95th Academy Awards.

A lack of representation

However, what should have been a moment of celebration for global recognition of South Asian talent, turned out to be one of disappointment. For starters, many /88d90d912c?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=3814026&utm_campaign=4484837&utm_source=affiliate&utm_channel=affiliate&cjevent=4a57dcf0c12611ed819b5b230a82b838&clickid=4a57dcf0c12611ed819b5b230a82b838">Western media outlets and celebrities routinely misnomer the song, calling it a “Bollywood” song and the “first Hindi-language song ever nominated for an Oscar.” Not only does this discount the win of the Hindi-language song Jai Ho composed by AR Rahman in 2009, but it’s simply incorrect. Naatu Naatu is originally composed in Telugu (though variations of it were made in other Indian languages) and is from a South Indian film. 

Furthermore, the performance of Naatu Naatu at the Oscars did not feature dancers or choreographers from South Asia. Even if the choreographer's aim was to re-enact the colonisation scene from the movie, the leads, at the very least, should have been South Asian, and not passing off as South Asian. There was, thus, a gaping lack of authenticity and genuine representation on a global stage.

With the boom in South Asian representation and talent worldwide, the gap at the Oscars was absurd to many from the subcontinent and its diaspora. Divya Jethwani, manager of Indian-Canadian musician, Tesher, shares, “Two years ago, when Baby first released, and we were trying to bring South Asian dancers and talent into our work, we faced issues finding SAG (Screen Actors Guild)-affiliated talent. But in the two years that have passed since, there are many South-Asian American dancers who are now SAG-affiliated.” The SAG is the union that governs professionals in the entertainment industry in the US, and to perform on a stage like the Oscars, the somewhat difficult-to-acquire membership is necessary. 

A shared responsibility?

But since then, South Asian SAG creatives are plentiful. In fact, in 2020, SAG hosted a conversation with South Asian actors on the rising representation of South Asian talent in the media. This year, there was an event on South Asian Women in Media and a South Asian excellence dinner hosted for and by South Asians during Oscar Weekend. There are more South Asians in the industry than ever before, but even a flood of such options isn’t consequential if it isn’t paired with South Asian leaders and decision-makers. 

For example, there are few South Asian executives in the global entertainment business, like Bela Bajaraia, Chief Content Officer at Netflix, who controls what the public views. To have representation of depth and breadth, we need South Asians in all tiers of the entertainment business who understand the nuances of representation. Jethwani believes that “instead of owning a shop on the block, we need to start building and owning the blocks themselves. We need more South Asians in decision-making positions to get our people signed, represented and platformed. Then within the community, we need to educate and make decisions with our layered diversity in mind, so that we have role models of how we want to be represented.”

Fixing the gaps in cultural accuracy 

Representation in the South Asian diaspora is a paradox. We’ve lived for decades without seeing ourselves in the mainstream, so when one person does earn visibility, we place the burden of representing all of us on them. For example, Mindy Kaling routinely receives criticism for portraying the same South Asian tropes on screen from the community. But if that is her experience, why can’t she just write and share what’s most true to her? Why is she tasked with the behemoth responsibility of representing the entire subcontinent and diaspora? South Asia and the diaspora are diverse, so we need to uplift multiple voices to represent our multiple experiences. 

South Asian-Americans on social media, too, recognise what was bittersweet about Naatu Naatu at the Oscars. In a video posted by Heena Patel, cultural strategist and founder of Mela Arts Connect, a cultural consulting and production agency, she applauds Deepika Padukone’s precursor to the performance that perfectly explains the origins of the song and  context of decolonisation. However, she’s disappointed in the lack of equal access to the Oscar stage for South Asian dancers. Patel shares that many unioniszed South Asian dancers submitted to be considered, but the choreographers’ insistence on working with dancers they knew robbed the South Asian community of authentic representation. Other dancers like Svetlana Tulsai and Ramita Ravi, too, expressed shock at how Indian dancers weren’t considered for an Indian song. Tulsai made the analogy, “what if JLo had everyone but Latin dancers. Can you imagine the outrage it would cause?” Yet, it is important to celebrate the art and its win.  The team brought home the Oscar and the original singers of Naatu Naatu, Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava, gave an incredible performance at the show, and that is historic.

This is not the first and last opportunity for the South Asian community. Jashima Wadehra, writer and CEO of Ode, a talent management and media consulting agency, believes, “As we begin to receive the accolades we’ve long deserved, the gaps in cultural accuracy from large media conglomerates to our internal communities will reveal themselves. We have to be able to stand up for ourselves and understand that calling for equitable treatment is not at odds with celebrating progress; we can do both, and hence affect change.”  We will continue to demand better from Hollywood, and hope that next time, we’re in decision-making seats so that more South Asian stories can shine.

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