Filmmaker SS Rajamouli's RRR created history by winning the 'Best Original Song' Oscar for its wildly popular dance number 'Naatu Naatu'. However, after the film's big win at the 95th Academy Awards, several rumours started doing the rounds that the makers spent huge sums of money on their Oscar campaign.
In a recent interview, Rajamouli's son, SS Karthikeya, addressed all these rumours and called them a "big joke".
During his conversation with Galatta Plus, Karthikeya shared, "I don't know why there is a rumour that the RRR team has spent a lot of money for the Oscar campaign. We definitely wanted to campaign for the Oscars, as the audience liked the film. We spent according to the publicity budget. We did everything according to the plan.
"It is a big joke that we can buy an Oscar if we give money. With a 95-year history, it is an institution. Everything there is done according to a process. I can only say one thing: can we buy the love of the fans? We can't buy the words of Steven Spielberg and James Cameron about the movie, can we? The fans have given us a lot of publicity," Karthikeya further added.
Responding to the rumours about RRR's team sponsoring tickets for the attendees, Karthikeya told Galatta Plus, "Jr NTR, Ram Charan, Prem Rakshit, Rahul Sipliganj, and Kala Bhairava were invited by the Oscar committee. 'Naatu Naatu' composer MM Keeravaani and lyricist Chandrabose already received invites because they were nominated."
"Other than those who are in the nomination or called by the committee, one has to buy the Oscar tickets. For this, the nominees should send an email to the Oscar committee. Also, there are different types of classes. Keeravaani emailed Oscar for our family, and after checking everything, they replied to the mail and sent a link. So, we bought each ticket for 1,500 dollars. That is the lower level. We spent another 750 dollars for four people to sit on the top and watch. We have bought the tickets. All this has been done officially," Rajamouli's son further told the publication.
Apart from its Oscar win, RRR's 'Naatu Naatu' was also performed live at the Academy Awards by the official singers of the song, Kaala Bhairava and Rahul Sipligunj.
Set in the pre-independence era, RRR is based on the lives of two real-life Indian revolutionary heroes — Alluri Sitaram Raju and Komaram Bheem, who lived in the 1920s.
RRR stars Ram Charan, Jr NTR, Alia Bhatt, Ajay Devgn, Shriya Saran, and Alison Doddy, among others. The epic action drama had its worldwide theatrical premiere on 24 March 2022. The sequel for the film is currently under development.
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