Ram Charan, Jr NTR didn't want to perform ‘Naatu Naatu’ onstage; Oscars 2023 producer shares why

Actors Ram Charan and Jr NTR were supposed to perform ‘RRR’s ‘Naatu Naatu’ song live at Oscars 2023, but they backed out due to multiple reasons with one of them being that they were not comfortable performing the foot-tapping number live onstage.

Raj Kapoor, who was one of the producers at the Oscars awards ceremony, said that the initial plan was to make the track’s original singers Kaala Bhairava and Rahul Sipligunj sing live, and have the lead actors perform on stage with a group of dancers.

In an interview with The Academy, Raj said, ‘Originally, the two leads were going to be the stars of the number alongside the singers Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava. The show was very instrumental in helping secure working visas for their team to be able to come to the US to be a part of the performance...Once we had the musical edit approved by MM Keeravaani, we did late night Zoom calls with the choreography team in India and Los Angeles. We shared casting choices, costume design ideas, and stage renderings with the team from India.’

He added, ‘In late February, we were informed that Ram Charan and NT Rama Rao Jr would be attending the Oscars, but they did not feel comfortable performing the live number on stage. The change was brought on because of their other professional commitments and the limited amount of time to rehearse.’

Raj said, ‘The original number was workshopped and rehearsed for two months and was shot over a period of 15 days. The Naatu Naatu performance for the Oscars was rehearsed in Los Angeles with professional dancers for a total of 18 hours of rehearsal and one 90-minute camera blocking.’

Rahul and Kaala Bhairava performed ‘Naatu Naatu’ at the prestigious award ceremony. Deepika Padukone introduced their performance and the audience cheered every time she mentioned the song’s name.

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