“I am neither too excited, nor too nervous. I want to enjoy the awards ceremony and hope we bring the Oscar home,” Hyderabad-based choreographer Prem Rakshith told The Hindu hours before leaving for Los Angeles to attend the 95th Academy Awards. Rakshith is the choreographer of director S S Rajamouli’s much-celebrated ‘Naatu Naatu’ song composed by MM Keeravani for RRR. ‘Naatu Naatu’ has just won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, received by its composer Keeravani and lyricist Chandrabose at Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles.
Ram Charan and NTR in the ‘Naatu Naatu’ song from Rajamouli’s ‘RRR’ | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Having choreographed for nearly 70 films, Rakshith considers ‘Naatu Naatu’ the most strenuous number he has worked on and says he is overwhelmed and filled with gratitude for the global recognition.
Also read | Oscars 2023: ‘Naatu Naatu’ live performance gets standing ovation
Rajamouli and Keeravani took nearly 17 months to finalise the song composition. When the rough track was ready, Rakshith was involved in the discussions. “A dance contest (face-off) is narrated like a short story. So we came up with a detailed plan about how we wanted to show Ram (Ram Charan) and Bheem (NTR)’s friendship, the romance between the characters Bheem and Jenny (Olivia Morris), and how the male and female background dancers will emote and dance. Wherever I thought we needed extended music (interludes) — for instance, the tail-end of the dance contest between NTR and Ram Charan — I requested Keeravani sir to extend the music.”
A file photo of Ram Charan and Prem Rakshith during the making of Rajamouli’s ‘Magadheera’ | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Discussing his methodology, Rakshith says once he understands the story and the song situation, he designs the dance to suit an actor’s body language. “What I choreograph for NTR will be different from what I do for Mahesh Babu.”
He has worked with NTR and Ram Charan earlier — Magadheera, Rangasthalam and Acharya for Ram Charan and Dhammu, Yamadonga, Brindavanam and Shakti for NTR. “They both have unique styles and body languages. I had to filter out many moves and choose which ones they could do in a similar manner; that was tough.”
Rakshith and his team of six to seven dancers came up with more than one option for each dance move; the ‘hook step’ that went viral soon after the song’s release, featuring NTR and Charan dancing in sync, was chosen from over 100 options designed by Rakshith.
The song was filmed at Mariinsky Palace, the official residence of the President of Ukraine. The RRR unit would film the song from 7am to 6pm, after which Rakshith would conduct rehearsals till 9pm for the following day’s shoot. They would oversee every move of the lead actors as well as background artistes who were part of the dance face-off.
“It took a toll on some of my dancers,” says Rakshith, adding, “We looked at everything, from how the male British characters needed to look disinterested, while the women enjoy it and join the dance. Then there are a few musicians who are just standing in the background.”
Prem Rakshith | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Rakshith has the knack of using either the costumes worn by the actors or the props on the sets, or both, to add drama and fun to the moves. He requested Rajamouli’s wife Rama, who was overseeing the costumes, to design suspenders that were maneuverable for the dance moves as part of the lead actors’ wardrobe.
Choreographer Prem Rakshith, singers Kaala Bhairava and Rahul Siplingunj at the Academy Awards | Photo Credit: RRR movie on Twitter/PTI Photo
Prior to ‘Naatu Naatu’, the ‘Manohari’ song in Baahubali - the Beginningwas a tough one, he says. Though the fictitious Mahishmati kingdom did not belong to a specific time period, the historic setting made Rakshith question if it would be appropriate to choreograph it as a mainstream Telugu film ‘item number’. “It should not look inappropriate for a period setting but it should look like a sensuous dance. This involved a few trials; then we used ropes to enhance the swaying movement of the three women in the song.”
The bow and arrow duet-like movements between Prabhas and Anushka Shetty in Baahubali - the Conclusion were also the handiwork of Rakshith. “Rajamouli taught me how important it is to choreograph keeping the camera angles and frames in mind. Along with cinematographer KK Senthil Kumar, we planned every movement shot by shot.”
Some of Rakshith’s biggest hits have been for Rajamouli films such as Magadheera and Yamadonga. His association with the director’s family began when he worked as a dance teacher to Rajamouli’s son Karthikeya and Keeravani’s sons Simha Koduri and Kaala Bhairava.
Puducherry-born and Chennai-bred, Rakshith began his film career as a background dancer in 1994, then choreographed for a film titled Vidyarthi. Rajamouli liked the dance and was pleasantly surprised when Rakshith revealed that he had choreographed it. “Then he asked me to choreograph for the ‘Gala gala gala’ song in Chatrapathi. More Telugu and Tamil films followed.
File photo of Tamil actor Vijay and Prem Rakshith during the making of ‘Azhagiya Tamil Magan’
Stating that his family went through tough times in the past, Rakshith says there were months when it was a struggle to make ends meet. “I owe it to my uncle, brother, sister-in-law and all my family members who take care of everything so that I can focus on work,” he says.
He adds that once work started coming in, he was so busy with film assignments in Hyderabad that he was only occasionally able to visit his family in Chennai. “Recently my family moved to Hyderabad. For almost 10 years I would see my son Parikshithh for a couple of days in a few months. I missed being with him in his growing years. Now he is in Class 10.”
Rakshith has also choreographed for the Tamil films Veeram, Mersal, Annathe, Saguni, Sura and Azhagiya Tamil Magan. “I also got offers from Hindi cinema but I declined. I am happy with the work I get in Telugu and Tamil cinema.”
