'Mera Bharath Mahaan!' Director Rajamouli's thank-you speech at Critics Choice Awards adds to 'RRR' frenzy

SS Rajamouli’s ‘RRR’ continues to be on a winning spree.

After ‘Naatu Naatu’ the addictive dance track from the film bagged the coveted Golden Globe in the category of ‘Best Original Song’ the magnum opus took home two Critics Choice Awards, one for the banger ‘Naatu Naatu’ (for Best Original Song) and the other for Best Foreign Language Film.

The Twitter handle of the Critics Choice Award shared a post congratulating the cast of ‘RRR’ for winning the award.

The Twitter account of the movie also celebrated the occasion with the fans and shared a clip of composer MM Keeravaani giving a moving acceptance speech. “ ‘Naatu Naatu Again!! Extremely delighted to share that we won the #CritcsChoiceAwards for the BEST SONG #RRRMovie. Here’s @mmkeeravaani’s acceptance speech.”
However it is Rajamouli's thank you speech that is bringing out the virtual waterworks and proud smile emojis out of the desi Twitterati. The director dedicated his win to his motherland and the women in his life. He thanked his mother Raj Nandini for encouraging him to explore his creativity, sister-in-law Srivalli who he described was "like a mother", his wife Rama who he said was " costume designer of my films and designer of my life," before signing off with a patriotic "Mera Bharath Mahaan ... Jai Hind!" (My county is noble ... long live India)
The desi Twitter can't help gushing over the moving thank you speech. "Rajamouli started his speech with Andariki namaskaram and ended with mere Bharath mahan jai hind! That is Rajamouli." Another gushed, "No seriously. I don't know why my eyes are started to tearing up, when @ssrajamouli garu said "To my motherland, India, Mera Bharat Mahan". This pride we celebrate not only for the crew of @RRRMovie but also it belongs to all the Indians who admire cinema. This is cinema."

The Ram Charan-NTR Jr starrer faced stiff competition such as 'All Quiet on the Western Front', 'Argentina 1985', 'Bardo', 'False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths', 'Close' and 'Decision to Leave.'

‘Naatu Naatu’ won against formidable contenders such as ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’, ‘Ciao Papa’ from Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Pinocchio’, ‘Hold My Hand’ from ‘Top Gun Maverick’, ‘Lift Me Up’ from ‘Black Panther Wakanda Forever’ and ‘New Body Rhumba’ from ‘White Noise’.

'Naatu Naatu' also received the best music core award at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) recently. Director Rajamouli also won the award of Best Director at the New York Film Critics Circle earlier this month.

Released on March 2022, the period action drama went on to be one of the highest grossers of the year and minted more than Rs 1200 crore at the global box-office. Set in pre-Independence India, the film revolves around the real-life friendship of two revolutionaries Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan) and Komaram Bheem (Rama Rao) and their fight to liberate India from the British Raj. The movie also marks Bollywood star Alia Bhatt's debut in South cinema.