RRR’s ‘Naatu Naatu’ song wins Golden Globe; Laurels pour in; Team upbeat in LA

The song ‘Naatu Naatu’ from the Indian film ‘RRR’ directed by S.S. Rajamouli was named the Best Original Song in Motion Picture bringing laurels for the RRR team from all corners.

Steven Spielberg’s ‘The Fabelmans’ won Best Picture, Drama and ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ bagged the Best Picture, Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globes Awards.

The film bagged the Best Original Song in Motion Picture creating waves in India.

‘RRR’, which is also competing in the Best Non-English Language Film, stars NTR Jr., Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt, Shriya Saran, Samuthirakani, Ray Stevenson, Alison Doody, and Olivia Morris.

Telugu flag flying high: Jagan 

The Telugu flag is flying high, said Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy in his reaction to blockbuster movie ‘RRR’ winning Golden Globes award.

On behalf of the people of Andhra Pradesh, he congratulated music director M.M. Keeravani, director S.S. Rajamouli, actors Junior NTR and Ram Charan and the entire team of ‘RRR’ on bagging the award for the best original song for ‘Naatu Naatu’.

“We are incredibly proud of you,” reads a tweet from the chief minister’s official Twitter handle.

As the Golden Globe for the number ‘Naatu Naatu’ has made headlines, the Indian attire sported by the ‘RRR’ family too grabbed eyeballs at the prestigious event.

‘RRR’ brought home the Golden Globe for Best Original Song in Motion Picture for the song ‘Naatu Naatu’, however, the film lost out the bigger share of the pie — that of the Best Motion Picture Non-English award to the Argentine film ‘Argentina, 1985’.

RRR women team in saree attire

It was Ram Charan, his wife Upasana, M. M. Keeravaani, his wife Srivalli S. S. Rajamouli and his better half Rama Rajamouli, who unlike any other global star chose to flaunt the Indian wear at the ceremony.

Ram Charan looked every inch dapper in an all black Kurta paired with straight pants and sunglasses. His wife Upasana dolled up in a printed saree.

Rajamouli chose a black kurta, red dhoti pants and a crisp red dupatta while his wife Rama, a costume designer, opted for a green and orange Kanjeevaram saree.

Keeravaani seemed to join the gang with a black kurta and straight pants. His wife chose a bright yellow and orengish-red nine-yard wonder.

Jr. NTR looked every inch handsome as he opted for a black suit paired with a bow-tie and a white shirt.

‘RRR’ centres around two real-life Indian revolutionaries, Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem, their fictional friendship and their fight against the British Raj.

Set in the 1920s, the plot explores the undocumented period in their lives when both the revolutionaries chose to go into obscurity before they began the fight for their country.

Shah Rukh Khan’s reaction

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan woke up and started dancing to ‘Naatu Naatu’ to celebrate ‘RRR’ team’s win at the 80th Golden Globes Awards.

Shah Rukh took to Twitter, where he replied to filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli appreciation tweet for the trailer of his upcoming film ‘Pathaan’.

“Sir just woke up and started dancing to Naatu Naatu celebrating your win at Golden Globes. Here’s to many more awards & making India so proud!!,” SRK wrote.

‘RRR’, which has become an international phenomenon with a collection of over Rs 1,200 crore (approximately) worldwide, stars Ram Charan and Jr NTR in the lead roles.

RRR’ centres around two real-life Indian revolutionaries, Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem, their fictional friendship and their fight against the British Raj.

Set in the 1920s, the plot explores the undocumented period in their lives when both the revolutionaries chose to go into obscurity before they began the fight for their country.

Adnan Sami not alone, many Indians do face humiliation abroad

When Bollywood singer Adnan Sami landed in Kuwaiti airport on Sunday, he was in for a shock to see how the officials of Kuwaiti immigration treat Indians.

Enraged, Adnan Sami tweeted about the episode:"Kuwaiti airport immigration mistreated my staff for no reason and called them ‘Indian Dogs’! When you were contacted you did nothing!! How dare d Kuwaitis behave like this with arrogance?!"

Soon Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj took cognizance of the tweet and asked him to call her immediately, which he did. The issue is likely to be taken up on Monday with the Kuwaiti officials through diplomatic channels.

But this is not the first time Indians face humiliation abroad. From Shah Rukh Khan to Abdul Kalam faced similar ill-treatment when they visited the United States, for example. It was a humiliation waiting for many whenever they go abroad. For decades, it remained unreported as individual cases.

Though apologies and diplomatic regrets follow the episode, it leaves a deep scar in the minds of Indians and many of them display lack of self-confidence in global forums. Indian students and Indian theatre groups or cinema personalities are the major targets of such ill-treatment.

Sushma Swaraj has set an example of quick response to any plea from any Indian who faces difficulty abroad. No foreign minister in the past, including Atal Behari Vajpayee, can boast of this confidence-boosting gesture from a minister. India should go beyond this. It is not feasible for the minister to respond every time on Twitter as lakhs of Indians will be travelling around the globe soon.

For decades, Europeans, Americans, Japanese or Arabs have subjugated Indians to ill-treatment or bullying at the entry point of their countries and it is time the modalities should be worked out and all the visiting foreign dignitaries are informed about the problems being faced by Indians in their countries. Unless the minister finds a long term solution, the issue remains a short-term issue forever.

63rd Jio Filmfare Awards 2018: Winners and Films

The 2018 Filmfare Award ceremony clearly lacked a powerful film like Bahubali but many fresh faces have made it to the top, besides some known actors like Irrfan Khan and Vidya Balan. What’s missing was “Baahubali” euphoria that marked last year’s awards ceremony.

Irrfan Khan has won the Filmfare Best Actor in Leading Role (Male) award for “Hindi Medium” while Vidya Balan received the Filmfare Best Actor in Leading Role (Female) Award for “Tumhari Sulu” at the 63rd Jio Filmfare Awards held in Mumbai on Saturday night.

Among the veterans Rekha was present and she presented the award to Vidya Balan. Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, R. Madhavan, Arjun Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Shahid Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra, Saqib Saleem, Armaan Malik, Amaal Malik, Karan Johar, Preity Zinta, Rekha, Jaya Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit among others.

Rajkumar Rao bagged two awards — the Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male) for “Bareilly Ki Barfi”, and the Critics’ Award for Best Actor (Male) for “Trapped”, while Meher Vij won the Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Female) for “Secret superstar”.

Dangal fame actress Zaira Wasim won the Critics’ Award for Best Actor (Female). Konkona Sen Sharma won the Best Debut Director Award for “A Death In The Gunj”.

She said while receiving the award: “Thank you so much… It’s unbelievable. I would like to thank Jio Filmfare. I would like to extend my biggest thank you to my team.” Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari won the Best Director Award for “Bareilly Ki Barfi”.

Amit V. Masurkar bagged the Best Original Story Award for his Oscar-nominated film “Newton”, which won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Film. “Hindi Medium” won the Best Film (popular) Award.

Ayushmann Khurrana has presented some Hindi evergreen songs like “Jab koi baat bigad jaaye”, “Tera mujhse hai pehle ka nata koi”, “Ruk jaana nahi tu kahi haar ke”, “Kehdu tumhe ya chup rahu” and “Janu meri jaan main tere qurbaan” on stage.

Ranveer Singh appeared in an interesting outfit that clubbed poster motifs of various classic Hindi films and when asked by host Shah Rukh Khan, he quickly replied saying: “People eat movies, drink movies, I even wear movies.”

Music composer and singer Bappi Lahiri won the Jio Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award this year.