MM Keeravani - the man behind 'Naatu Naatu' - is a singer, composer & musician extraordinaire

'Naatu Naatu' has charmed its way through the awards circuit! From the Golden Globes to the Critics Choice Awards, and now onwards to the prestigious Academy Awards, it has been a glorious run for this peppy and fast-paced energetic banger.

And the man behind the melodious runaway hit, is composer extraordinaire MM Keeravani. With an exemplary body of work - think the goosebumps-inducing BGM track of ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’, the dreamy and ethereal ‘Dhivara’ (from ‘Baahubali: The Beginning’) as well as the saccharine sweet ‘Kannaa Nidurinchara’ from ‘Baahubali 2’ - that has spanned across decades, he has let his music do the talking, pretty much.

A veteran of the South Indian entertainment industry, he has worked extensively in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam as well as Hindi language films. Known as Maragathamani in Tamil filmdom and as MM Kreem in the Hindi film industry, the 61-year-old seasoned composer-singer is pretty much a legend down South.

Music In The Genes
His lineage is filmy - a cousin of director SS Rajamouli and music director, singer MM Srilekha, he is also the nephew of film screenwriter and director V Vijayendra Prasad. Both his sons work in the entertainment industry. And his musical genes have been passed on to his progeny - his elder son Kaala Bhairava is a noted singer-music director in the Telugu industry while his younger son Sri Simha is an actor. His brother Kalyani Malik is also a singer-composer.

Keeramani, who began his career in 1987, as an assistant music producer with the popular Malayalam composer C Rajamani and Telugu music director K. Chakravarthy, is no stranger to recognition. Apart from the Golden Globe Award, he is a recipient of a National Film Award, eight Filmfare Awards, 11 Nandi Awards as well as a Tamil Nadu State Award.

The Winner Takes It All
From the ‘Baahubali’ franchise to ‘Annamayya’, ‘Magadheera’ and ‘RRR’, Keeravani has had the golden touch. For the pan-India audience, his touch has been evident in mellifluous compositions in Hindi movies like ‘Paheli’, ‘Jism’, ‘Sur’ and ‘Zakhm’.

Aside from composing for films, Keeravani also enjoys a successful career as a playback singer, and his singing credits include 'Janani' and 'Etthara Jenda' from 'RRR', 'Dheera Dheera Dheera' from the 2009 film 'Magadheera' , 'Sahore Bahubali' from 'Baahubali 2' among others.

And while his first break as a bonafide composer was the 1990 film ‘Kalki’ - which never saw the light of day - it was only with Ram Gopal Varma's blockbuster ‘Kshana Kshanam’ in 1991 that he struck a chord of success.

While dedicating the Golden Globe win to the ‘RRR’ director and cousin Rajamouli as well as the film’s leads Ram Charan and NTR Rama Rao Jr, he also cited the contribution of musicians like John Williams and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan who were his inspiration.

It became the second Indian language song to collect a Golden Globe award. A decade earlier, the song ‘Jai Ho’ from the 2008 movie ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ won a Golden Globe in the category of Best Score-Motion Picture.