While Rahul Sipliganj and Kalabhairava, who sang in the film, gave a live performance on the Oscar stage, American dancers Acham NTR and Ram Charan rocked the stage. At the end of the performance, everyone in the Dolby Theater stood up and gave a standing ovation. That performance impressed Hollywood celebrities. In fact, it is not American dancers who have to perform on the Oscar stage. Our heroes NTR and Ram Charan should do it. When the song ‘Natu Natu’ was nominated for Oscar, NTR and Ram Charan were approached to dance on the Oscar stage at the awards ceremony. However, both of them politely refused. Oscar producer Raj Kapoor revealed this.
Oscar producer Raj Kapoor
Delhi-based choreographer Raj Kapoor has been working as a producer for Oscars since 2017. He oversees the live performances on stage at the Oscars every year. Also, when the song ‘Natu Natu’ was nominated, Raj Kapoor planned a live performance. Oscars’ A. Raj Kapoor told Frame’ website.
“We are very proud to have worked with the creative team of the film to deliver a stunning performance on the Oscar stage. As part of our creative call we first spoke to the film’s public relations team. We discussed it with Karthikeya, film producer and music director MM Keeravani. Choreographer Prem Rakshit was contacted when the nominations were announced. We have asked Prem Rakshit who has done a wonderful song of Natu Natu to help us.
Actually, we wanted both the heroes to give a dance performance on stage along with singers Rahul Sipliganj and Kalabhairava. Prem Rakshit and his assistant sent an audition choreography video. We sent the video to the biggest dance agencies in Los Angeles. However, Tabitha and Napoleon Dumo, known as the Nappytabs, stepped forward. The original choreography of the film has been adapted to what is seen on TV. After taking approval from Keeravani regarding the edited song, we spoke to the choreography teams in India and Los Angeles through Zoom calls. We took advice from the team in India about casting choices, costume design ideas, and other items to be on stage.
Rahul Sipliganj, Tabitha and Napoleon Dumo, Prem Rakshit, Kalabhairava
We told the same thing to Ram Charan and Jr. NTR in February. However, they said that they will participate in the Oscars ceremony but cannot perform live on stage. They revealed that they could not make it due to other professional commitments and insufficient time for rehearsals. A workshop was held for the original song that we saw in the film. Rehearsed for two months. Filmed for 15 days. Professional dancers rehearsed for 18 hours in Los Angeles for the Oscars. They were in camera blocking for 90 minutes,” explained Raj Kapoor.
