'RRR' Stars Ram Charan and Jr NTR Talk Historic Oscar Nomination for 'Naatu Naatu' (Exclusive)

etonline.com:

, the Indian film starring Ram Charan and Jr NTR as two revolutionaries fighting against the British colonialists in the 1920s, has not only enjoyed crossover success in the United States, but it made history when the breakout musical number, «Naatu Naatu,» was nominated for Best Original Song at the 95th Academy Awards. " is about friendship.

It's celebrating friendship," NTR says. While speaking to ET's Ash Crosson, both actors reacted to all the accolades for the film, which is now streaming on Netflix, and what it was like filming the epic dance number for the Indian Telugu-language song written by the now-Oscar nominees, M.

M. Keeravani and Chandrabose.In the film, which is directed by S. S. Rajamouli and choreographed by Prem Rakshith, «Naatu Naatu» is presented as a fight sequence in which the duo, Ram (Charan) and Bheem (NTR), out-dance their affluent British counterparts at the behest of Bheem's love interest, Jenny (Olivia Morris). «We were practicing it every day for three hours,» NTR says, explaining that while «each person has a different style of dancing […] it was so important that in the film, when the two friends are alike, when they align together, you don't really need to look at each other.»    According to Charan, the actors, along with 150 dancers and a crew of 200 people, rehearsed that sequence for seven days, before shooting it in front of the actor-turned-Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy's palace.

In total, it took about 17 days to complete. Not only were they trying to make sure everything was perfectly synchronized, the two actors performed all their own stunts in the elaborate dance number. «There was no head replacement at all.