‘RRR’ Song ‘Naatu Naatu’ Beats Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Lady Gaga to Win Golden Globe

“Naatu Naatu,” the Indian Telugu-language song from the action drama RRR, beat out tunes by Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga to win best original song at the 2023 Golden Globes.

Composer M. M. Keeravani accepted the honor Tuesday night at the Beverly Hilton. He shares the win with lyricist Chandrabose.

“Thank you very much HFPA for this prestigious award,” Keeravani said onstage. “I’m really happy to share this excitement with my wife, who is sitting right there.”

“Naatu Naatu” won over Rihanna’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever anthem “Lift Me Up,” Lady Gaga’s  “Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick, Taylor Swift’s “Carolina” from Where the Crawdads Sing and “Ciao Papa,” created by Guillermo del Toro, Alexandre Desplat and Roeban Katz, from del Toro’s Pinocchio.

Desplat was also nominated for best original score for Pinocchio, but lost to Justin Hurwitz, who won his fourth Golden Globe.

“I’m very grateful that I had the opportunity to figure out at a young age that music was the thing for me. I’m grateful to my parents. I’m grateful to the public schools I went to that had music classes,” said the composer, who won for Babylon.

“I think a lot about all of the people out there who are really talented at something, but never get the chance to figure out what that thing is. So, I just think it’s so important to spread opportunity around, to make sure that everybody — kids and adults and everybody — have the opportunity to be exposed to things, to try things out, to figure out what’s for them.”

Hurwitz previously won best original score for First Man and La La Land. He also won best original song for “City of Stars” from La La Land, sharing with songwriters Justin Paul and Benj Pasek.

Others nominated for best original score included John Williams (The Fabelmans), Hildur Gudnadóttir (Women Talking) and Carter Burwell (Banshees of Inisherin).

(The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which presents the Golden Globes, is owned by Eldridge Industries. The Hollywood Reporter is owned by PME Holdings, LLC, a joint venture between Penske Media Corporation and Eldridge.)