When producer Guneet Monga was cut off midway during her speech after winning an Academy Award, it drew ire. But, a section of internet users also noticed how Chandrabose got just a second or two to speak after lifting the Oscar for Naatu Naatu (Best Original Song). The lyricist, however, has “no complaints”.

He tells us, “Keeravani sir (composer M M Keeravani) was given 45 seconds, but he spoke for 30 and the music started playing. I got just one second to speak. The only word I uttered was ‘namaste’ and that was enough. I always say we don’t need hours to make history; even one second will do.”

But, never in his wildest dreams did Chandrabose imagine the RRR (2022) song would bring India glory on a stage like the Oscars. What made it stand out, he feels, is the “local flavour” it had. “The song has a rural setting. It reflects my childhood and the village I grew up in. It came straight from my heart. Since we incorporated elements of our culture in it, people in the West found it fresh. I believe that’s the definition of art — taking local culture to the global stage,” says the lyricist, who wrote “90% of the song in 45 minutes”.

“It then went to Rajamouli sir (S S Rajamouli, director) for approval. He liked it and passed it on to Keeravani sir to work on the composition. He worked on it for a long time. Sometimes, the lyrics would not fit the tune, or the tune had to be changed to retain the lyrics. After several versions and discussions, the very first tune was locked,” he recalls.

Chandrabose is elated at the overwhelming response the song continues to get from all quarters. Sharing how it is almost like a “mantra” (chant) today, he adds, “Americans, Japanese... everyone is dancing to the song, without understanding the lyrics. It’s like the veda mantra. We may not understand [entirely] what it means, but there is a sort of energy that gets us addicted to it. Everybody connects with the rhyming of words (in Naatu Naatu), the sounds and the phonetics of it,” says the lyricist, who has also penned songs for the film Pushpa: The Rise (2021), besides several other projects.