Naatu Naatu’s win at the Oscars and Golden Globes is sweet, but it is still about power

A still from 'Naatu Naatu' - the Golden Globe Award and Oscar-winning song in S.S. Rajamouli's 'RRR'. From the time that "Awara hun" captivated listeners across the Soviet Union, Egypt and other parts of the world, popular Indian music has often been the country’s best brand ambassador.

The whole world is jiving to the tune of the lad song, Naatu naatu. Okay, that may be an exaggeration but from TikTok videos it is evident that the Telugu-song composed by M.M. Keeravani with lyrics by Chandrabose and sung by Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava for the movie RRR, has caught the fancy of music lovers in countries like Kenya, Japan, the US, Germany, Egypt, besides of course getting every Indian up on his feet.

The critics may carp about how the song is hardly the best to have come out of India and that even Keeravani has made far better numbers. But that hardly matters. The fact is, having won two big global awards - Golden Globe and Oscar - in the last two months, it is currently the anthem of the nation. Till of course the next peppy number comes along.

At a time when a short seller’s report had brought much notoriety to Indian markets, it also dilutes some of the ensuing negativity.

From the time that "Awara hun" composed by Shankar Jaikishan and sung by Mukesh captivated listeners across the Soviet Union, Egypt and other parts of the world, popular Indian music has often been the country’s best brand ambassador. Five years ago on a balmy evening at an Iranian restaurant in Manhattan, a wonderful Armenian lady sang "mera joota hai Japani" for us. She may have skipped a note or two, but the emotion was irreproachable. Over dinner she told us how she had loved and learnt the songs after watching the movie as a child.

It has been a steady trend. From bhangra rap in the nightclubs of Europe to Bollywood dance classes in the suburbs of Paris, Indian film and non-film music has cut across national, social and cultural barriers to emerge as the great flag bearer for the country. What hundreds of posters proclaiming the country as the fountainhead of democracy along with high-decibel diplomatic pronouncements can't do, is easily achieved by just a few steps of Naatu naatu.

Commentators have called this evidence of India’s rising soft power, that ephemeral force described as the use of positive attraction and persuasion to achieve foreign policy objectives.

India is ranked 28 in the world on Brand Finance’s The Global Soft Power Index 2023, above countries like Portugal, Brazil and Greece. The list is headed by the US, UK, Germany, Japan, China and France. Notice how that’s basically the G5 nations along with the economic powerhouse China. And that’s what it is about - economic muscle tops culture any day. Last year, when India was ranked 29, the report was flattering in its review: “India’s soft power is like a river flowing down from the Himalayas. It is understated at times, gentle mostly, displays power when situations demand and carries itself with elegance through the tumults of time.” Try applying those virtues to countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, both ranked higher than India!

The question is whether India’s rising soft power has a role to play in wins like the Oscar for Naatu naatu or whether it is the reverse, with the Oscar win contributing to the positive image. For a cue, turn to the mid-1990s when a newly liberalized India offered a virgin market to multinational corporations for products ranging from colas to cosmetics. Between 1994 and 2000, Indians won two Miss Universe titles and four Miss World crowns. After that there was a drought of such glories for the next 17 years as the attention of the world shifted to newer markets. While Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai who between them won both the titles in 1994 did much to enhance India’s appeal to the world, it is obvious that they were also lucky to be participating in these pageants just when the Indian market looked promising to the world.

So if the knowledgeable voters of the Motion Picture Academy saw no virtue in the magnificent songs of singers of yore and instead decided to honour Naatu naatu, it has something to do with India’s rising hard power. That India is now demanding Na pata soodu (look at my song) and a world not wanting to miss out, is listening and feting.