Rumours were rife that the team of RRR including director SS Rajamouli, actors Ram Charan and Jr. NTR along with composer MM Keeravaani, singers Rahul Sipligunj-Kaala Bhairava and choreographer Prem Rakshith had to pay a hefty amount to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to attend the 95th Oscars on March 12 in Los Angeles. The song Naatu Naatu from the film was nominated and won the Best Original Song award.
Reports stated that the team had to spend over Rs. 60 lacs to get tickets. However, in an interview with a regional portal down South, Rajamouli's son SS Karthikeya who spearheaded the Oscars campaign clarified that while they did pay a certain amount but the context was different from what was stated in reports. He told in the interview that the cost incurred wasn't Rs. 60 lacs. "People like Ram Charan, Jr NTR, Prem Rakshith, Kaala Bhairava, Rahul Sipligunj, Keeravaani and Chandrabose were officially invited. Each of these nominees have a few seats which they can accommodate for people they’d like to bring. But they have to send out a mail to the Academy and tell them who they’re bringing along," Kartikeya told.
He added, "Once the mail is sent, the committee will review it and then send a link to pay for the seats. So there are classes of seats and they have to be paid for. We paid around $1500 (Rs 1.2 lacs) per seat for the lower level and $750 (Rs 61k) per seat for the top level. That’s about it."
Before the Oscars, Naatu Naatu won at the Golden Globes 2023 in January. A few weeks later, it won the Best Song award at the 28th edition of the Critics Choice Awards, while RRR was named Best Foreign Language Film. The film released in India on March 25, 2022.
(Source: Galatta Plus)
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