Since the Oscars shortlists were announced on December 21, thousands of Gold Derby users have made their predictions in those 10 newly narrowed-down categories. That includes Best Original Song where “RRR” has taken the early lead for its breakout number “Naatu Naatu,” in which the film’s Indian lead characters best an arrogant white colonizer in a dance battle. If it wins it will be only the fourth song in a language other than English to take the prize. Watch it above.
“Naatu Naatu” certainly stands out from the rest of the field, not just for its language but for how it brings a joyous dance interlude into the action-packed story of Indian revolutionaries. It would join the Greek “Never on Sunday” from the film of the same name, the Spanish “Al Otro Lado Del Rio” from “The Motorcycle Diaries,” and the Hindi “Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire” on the short list of non-English songs to prevail. It would be kind of fitting since “RRR” is all about putting the English in their place.
As of this writing eight of the Expert journalists we’ve surveyed from major media outlets are predicting “Naatu Naatu” to win, compared to three who predict Lady Gaga‘s “Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick” and two betting on Rihanna‘s “Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” “Naatu” also has the most support from the Editors who cover awards year-round for Gold Derby and the All-Star Top 24 Users who got the highest scores predicting the last two years’ Oscar nominations. However, our Top 24 Users, the best predictors of last year’s Oscar noms, lean ever so slightly towards “Lift Me Up.”
But it’s a close race between those top three songs in a category that’s often difficult to predict. Which of those, if any, do you think will win? More importantly, which song do you think deserves to win? Vote below.
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