- Thursday, March 06, 2025
By: Mohnish Singh
MM Keeravaani, composer of the Oscar-winning song “Naatu Naatu,” on Wednesday was awarded India’s fourth highest civilian award, Padma Shri, by President Draupadi Murmu at a ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were in attendance during the presentation ceremony.
MM Keeravaani is the composer behind the widely popular RRR number “Naatu Naatu” which won the prestigious Oscar and a Golden Globe award this year in the ‘Best Original Song’ category.
Keeravaani, the composer of RRR’s upbeat music, also performs under the name MM Kreem and is responsible for a number of enduring melodies from the Hindi film industry’s 1990s and early 2000s, including “Tum Mile Dil Khile” from Criminal (1995), which is frequently mistaken for an AR Rahman composition. Additionally, there was ‘Gali Mein Aaj Chand Nikla” in Mahesh Bhatt’s Zakhm (1998), and Jism (2003), as well as in Sudhir Mishra’s Iss Raat ki Subah Nahi (1996) and ‘O Saathiya’ from Saaya (2003).
Paheli in 2005 and Sur in 2002 were two other masterpieces he produced.
Earlier, in January, the Central government of India announced a total of 106 Padma Awards across categories. The categories included art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, and civil service, among others.
