Los Angeles: ‘Naatu Naatu’, the hit dance track from SS Rajamouli’s blockbuster “RRR”, on Tuesday continued its winning march by earning a coveted nomination for the Original Song at the Oscars 2023 where Indian documentaries ‘All That Breathes’ and ‘Elephant Whisperers’ walked away with nods in Documentary Feature and Documentary Short categories.

‘The Last Show’, India’s official entry in the International Feature category, however, failed to make the cut in the final five, but there was much to celebrate as it is perhaps for the first time that three films from the country are competing in different segments.

‘Naatu Naatu’ will compete with ‘Applause’ from ‘Tell It Like a Woman’, ‘Hold My Hand’ from ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, ‘Lift Me Up’ from ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ and ‘This Is a Life’ from ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’.

The song, filmed on Ram Charan and Jr. NTR, translates to bucolic in Telugu and demonstrates the spirit of fun in country music over 4.35 breathless minutes of song and dance.

Composed by M.M. Keeravani and choreographed by Prem Rakshith, it has legions of followers on social media trying to master its steps.

“WE CREATED HISTORY!! Proud and privileged to share that #NaatuNaatu has been nominated for Best Original song at the 95th Academy Awards,” the film’s official Twitter handle posted.

Keeravani shared his excitement over the nomination on Twitter.

“Congratulations to my team !! Big hugs to all,” Keeravani tweeted.

Rajamouli’s father and the film’s screenwriter V. Vijayendra Prasad told PTI that it was a “proud moment for India.

“It is a proud moment for the entire team of ‘RRR’. It is a proud moment for India, for Telugu movie industry and for Indian cinema,” Prasad told PTI.

This is the third major international recognition for ‘Naatu Naatu’, sung by Kala Bhairava and Rahul Sipligunj, after Keeravani won a Golden Globe as well as a Critics Choice award for the track earlier this month.

The film won another Critics Choice award – Best Foreign Language Film.