The year has begun on a high note for the Indian film music industry as RRR’s Naatu Naatu, which has bagged a spot in the top five nominees in the Original Song category at the Oscars, has also won Best Original Song at Golden Globes and Critic’s Choice Awards. The song was sung by Kaala Bhairava (composer M M Keeravani’s son) and Rahul Sipligunj.

Kaala Bhairava, who is thrilled with the Oscar nomination, recalls the moment the Golden Globe win was announced. He says, “When we got to know that Naatu has won the Best Original Song at the Golden Globe, we were jubilant. I was watching the event live with my family at our home in the US. We were watching it like it was an ongoing World Cup cricket match where there was just the last ball left for India to win!”

The song was created painstakingly. “Naatu Naatu took two-and-a-half years to create. We felt there was scope for improvement in the process of music production. Once the song was shot, we felt we could enhance it further, so we went back to the studio and worked on it some more. Due to all this, the song took so long to create.”

In Baahubali: The Beginning (2015), Kaala Bhairava had sung the duet Khoya Hain with Neeti Mohan. The singer says, “I have grown up listening to Bollywood songs and have loved them. Earlier, I would often listen to songs composed by Pritam sir and Shankar-Eshaan-Loy and Amit Trivedi sir. These composers made up most of my playlists.”

Kaala Bhairava believes that the goal of an artiste should be to be recognized for their original work. “The best thing we can do is to try to be as original as possible and stick to our uniqueness because there is no point in trying to imitate something in order to be successful or in order to sell our work. Being yourself and being recognized for it is the best thing and you can’t compare that feeling with anything else,” he signs off.