This article is written by Gajendra Khanna, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

13^th March 2023 proved to be a very special day for the Indian diaspora all over the world. It was the iconic Academy Awards aka Oscars night and all eyes were glued onto the stage awaiting the results. Indian film industry saw three nominations from it’s side and its winning two that night was something we will always remember.The Oscars are considered to be the top awards in the world by many. In my opinion, It is primarily an American Award primarily about American films and aimed at the American audience. In fact, most of the jury is also indeed American. Since, some time, it is however seen as aiming to be more ‘inclusive’ with one seeing awards beyond the usual suspects. We are seeing winners from around the world and artists of all kinds of backgrounds. Usually there are many entries sent from around the world for various categories and obviously it is not possible for all to make it to the final selections or winners. But whoever, reaches there is definitely something special.

Before talking about it further, let me talk about the awards themselves for a historical background. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion pictures. The Academy’s corporate management and general policies are overseen by a board of governors, which includes representatives from each of the craft branches.

As of April 2020, the organization was estimated to consist of around 9,921 motion picture professionals. The Academy is an international organization and membership is open to qualified filmmakers around the world.

The Academy is known around the world for its annual Academy Awards now officially and popularly known as “The Oscars”. The Academy had been formed on May 11, 1927 and it’s purpose in its own words is, “To recognize and uphold excellence in the motion picture arts and sciences, inspire imagination, and connect the world through the medium of motion pictures”. It is headquartered in Beverley Hills, California.

The notion of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) began with Louis B. Mayer, head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). He said he wanted to create an organization that would mediate labor disputes without unions and improve the film industry’s image. He met with actor Conrad Nagel, director Fred Niblo, and the head of the Association of Motion Picture Producers, Fred Beetson to discuss these matters. The idea of this elite club having an annual banquet was discussed, but no mention of awards at that time. They also established that membership into the organization would only be open to people involved in one of the five branches of the industry: actors, directors, writers, technicians, and producers.

After their brief meeting, Mayer gathered up a group of thirty-six people involved in the film industry and invited them to a formal banquet at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on January 11, 1927. That evening Mayer presented to those guests what he called the International Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Everyone in the room that evening became a founder of the Academy.Between that evening and when the official Articles of Incorporation for the organization were filed on May 4, 1927, the “International” was dropped from the name, becoming the “Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences”.
Several organizational meetings were held prior to the first official meeting held on May 6, 1927. Their first organizational meeting was held on May 11 at the Biltmore Hotel. At that meeting Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. was elected as the first president of the Academy, while Fred Niblo was the first vice-president, and their first roster, composed of 230 members, was printed.That night, the Academy also bestowed its first honorary membership, to Thomas Edison. Initially, the Academy was broken down into five main groups, or branches, although this number of branches has grown over the years. The original five were: Producers, Actors, Directors, Writers and Technicians .

The initial concerns of the group had to do with labor.” However, as time went on, the organization moved “further away from involvement in labor-management arbitrations and negotiations.” One of several committees formed in those initial days was for “Awards of Merit,” but it was not until May 1928 that the committee began to have serious discussions about the structure of the awards and the presentation ceremony. By July 1928, the board of directors had approved a list of 12 awards to be presented. During July the voting system for the Awards was established, and the nomination and selection process began.This “award of merit for distinctive achievement” is what we know now as the Academy Awards.

The initial location of the organization was 6912 Hollywood Boulevard. In November 1927, the Academy moved to the Roosevelt Hotel at 7010 Hollywood Boulevard, which was also the month the Academy’s library began compiling a complete collection of books and periodicals dealing with the industry from around the world. In May 1928, the Academy authorized the construction of a state of the art screening room, to be located in the Club lounge of the hotel. The screening room was not completed until April 1929.

With the publication of Academy Reports (No. 1): Incandescent Illumination in July 1928, the Academy began a long history of publishing books to assist its members. Research Council of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences trained Signal Corps officers, during World War II, who later won two Oscars, for Seeds of Destiny and Toward Independence.

In 1929, Academy members, in a joint venture with the University of Southern California, created America’s first film school to further the art and science of moving pictures. The school’s founding faculty included Fairbanks (President of the Academy), D. W. Griffith, William C. deMille, Ernst Lubitsch, Irving Thalberg, and Darryl F. Zanuck.

1930 saw another move, to 7046 Hollywood Boulevard, in order to accommodate the enlarging staff, and by December of that year the library was acknowledged as “having one of the most complete collections of information on the motion picture industry anywhere in existence.” They remained at that location until 1935 when further growth caused them to move once again. This time, the administrative offices moved to one location, to the Taft Building at the corner of Hollywood and Vine, while the library moved to 1455 North Gordon Street.

In 1934, the Academy began publication of the Screen Achievement Records Bulletin, which today is known as the Motion Picture Credits Database. This is a list of film credits up for an Academy Award, as well as other films released in Los Angeles County, using research materials from the Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library. Another publication of the 1930s was the first annual Academy Players Directory in 1937. The Directory was published by the Academy until 2006 when it was sold to a private concern. The Academy had been involved in the technical aspects of film making since its founding in 1927, and by 1938, the Science and Technology Council consisted of 36 technical committees addressing technical issues related to sound recording and reproduction, projection, lighting, film preservation, and cinematography.

The Academy Award statuette’s nickname, “Oscar,” has three possible sources. Actress Bette Davis claimed that the name derived from her observation that the backside of the statuette looked like that of her husband Harmon Oscar Nelson. Columnist Sidney Skolsky maintained that he gave the award its nickname. The name has also been attributed to academy librarian Margaret Herrick, who declared that the statuette looked like her Uncle Oscar.

Oscar Awards have evolved with passage of time. With time, the number of categories has gone up to quite an extent and even new segments have been added. At the same time, many categories that were earlier a part of Oscars have now been removed. In short, there have many inclusions and exclusions in Oscar categories, according to changing times. Presently, the Academy Awards ceremony has 24 categories, in which winners are announced. Apart from that, yet another set of award, known as the Students Academy Awards, is also presented by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, separately.
Several Indian individuals and films have received or been nominated for the Academy Awards in different categories. As of 2023, 20 Indians have been nominated and 10 have won Oscars including in the scientific and technical category.

At the 30th Academy Awards, Mehboob Khan’s 1957 Hindi-language film Mother India was India’s first submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film category. It was nominated alongside four other films and lost to the Italian film Nights of Cabiria (1957) by one vote. In 1982, The National Film Development Corporation of India was instrumental in co-producing Richard Attenborough’s biographical film Gandhi. At the 55th Academy Awards, Bhanu Athaiya became the first Indian to win an Academy Award for designing the costumes. Ravi Shankar was nominated for Best Original Score for the same film. As of 2023, three Indian films have been nominated for Best International Feature—Mother India, Salaam Bombay! (1988) and Lagaan (2001).

In 1992, legendary Bengali filmmaker Satyajit Ray was bestowed with an Honorary Academy Award, becoming the only Indian to date to receive the honour. Resul Pookutty and A. R. Rahman won the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing and Best Original Score, respectively, for the 2008 British film Slumdog Millionaire. Rahman also won for Best Original Song alongside lyricist Gulzar for the song “Jai Ho”, becoming the first Indian to date to have won more than one Academy Award. Rahman also holds the record for most nominations for an Indian with five total nominations to date, followed by Ismail Merchant with four nominations (three for Best Picture and once for Live Action Short).

Several Indians and Indian Americans have received the Oscars in the technical category like Rahul Thakkar, Cottalango Leon and Vikas Sathaye.
This year (2023) we had three Indian nominations. Shaunak Sen and Aman Mann’s “All That Breathes’ had been nominated for the best Documentary feature but unfortunately failed to win the Oscars though it has won several other noted awards. The film follows siblings Mohammad Saud and Nadeem Shehzad, who rescue and treat injured birds in India.

The second nomination was for Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga’s ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ which won the Oscars for Best Documentary (Short Feature) category. The Elephant Whisperers is a 2022 Tamil-language Indian short documentary film directed by documentary filmmaker Kartiki Gonsalves in her directorial debut. The documentary is about the bond that develops between a couple and an orphaned baby elephant, Raghu, who was entrusted to their care. The Elephant Whisperers tells the story of an indigenous couple named Bomman and Bellie who are entrusted with an orphaned baby Indian elephant named Raghu. They take great pains to ensure that the fragile, injured infant survives and grows to be a healthy juvenile. A strong bond develops between the couple and the elephant. They adopt another elephant Ammukutty and eventually have to give up Raghu. Set in the Mudumalai National Park in the border of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu states of India, the documentary also highlights the natural beauty of the location. It explores the life of the tribal people in harmony with nature.

The film is not just a heart-touching story of a bond between animal and human and co-existence, but also showcases Indian culture and tradition of environment conservation. Kartiki Gonsalves spent five years following human-elephant blended family belonging to Kattunayakan tribe to make this documentary. The beautiful film is available on Netflix for those interested. The win will prove to be a great inspiration for Indian women film makers.

The third nomination which won is “Naatu Naatu” from the film RRR for Best Original Score. It was great to see the composer M M Keeravani and lyricist Chandrabose receive the award. They received it with so much dignity and it was so nice to see Keeravani sing a loved Carpenters song during his speech while accepting the award. There is a lot to say about M M Keeravani (aka M M Kreem to Hindi film audiences) and I am already planning a post with his song ‘Khoobsurat Hai Woh Kitna’ from the movie Rog (2005) which was recently introduced by Sadanand ji. I will talk about his work in that article and today we will focus on RRR and “Naatu Naatu” instead today.

“Naatu Naatu” (transl. Native, Local, Wild) is an Indian Telugu-language song composed by M. M. Keeravani, with lyrics by Chandrabose and recorded by Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava for the soundtrack album of the 2022 Indian film RRR. It was released on 10 November 2021 (released on YouTube as a lyrical video song) as the second single from the album, through Lahari Music and T-Series. The full video song, featuring visuals directly from the film, was released on 11 April 2022 on YouTube.

The song was also released in Hindi as “Naacho Naacho”, in Tamil as “Naattu Koothu”, in Kannada as “Halli Naatu” and in Malayalam as “Karinthol”. The hook step dance involving N. T. Rama Rao Jr. and Ram Charan – the lead actors of RRR – became popular. “Naatu Naatu” became the first song from an Indian film to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, as well as the first song from an Asian film to win the former.
Today’s post will of course feature the Hindi version “Naacho Naacho”.

Before we talk about the song, It would be appropriate to talk a bit about the movie first. RRR is a 2022 Indian Telugu-language epic action drama film directed by S. S. Rajamouli, who co-wrote the film with V. Vijayendra Prasad. It was produced by D. V. V. Danayya of DVV Entertainment. The film stars N. T. Rama Rao Jr., Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt, Shriya Saran, Samuthirakani, Ray Stevenson, Alison Doody, and Olivia Morris. It centers around fictional versions of two Indian revolutionaries, Alluri Sitarama Raju (Charan) and Komaram Bheem (Rama Rao), their friendship, and their fight against the British Raj.
Rajamouli came across stories about the lives of Rama Raju and Bheem and connected the coincidences between them, imagining what would have happened had they met, and been friends. The film was announced in March 2018. Principal photography of the film began in November 2018 in Hyderabad and continued until August 2021, owing to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It was filmed extensively across India, with a few sequences filmed in Ukraine and Bulgaria. The film’s soundtrack and background score were composed by M. M. Keeravani, with cinematography by K. K. Senthil Kumar and editing by A. Sreekar Prasad. Sabu Cyril is the film’s production designer whilst V. Srinivas Mohan supervised the visual effects.

Made on a budget of ₹550 crore (US$72 million), RRR is the most expensive Indian film to date. The film was initially scheduled for theatrical release on 30 July 2020, which was postponed multiple times due to production delays and the COVID pandemic. RRR was released theatrically on 25 March 2022 in the original Telugu as well as Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam. With ₹240 crore (US$30 million) worldwide on its first day, RRR recorded the highest opening-day earned by an Indian film. It emerged as the highest-grossing film in its home market of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, grossing over ₹415 crore (US$52 million). The film grossed ₹1,200 crore (US$150 million) – ₹1,258 crore (US$160 million) worldwide, setting several box office records for an Indian film, including the third highest-grossing Indian film and second highest-grossing Telugu film worldwide.

RRR received international praise for Rajamouli’s direction, writing, performances (particularly Rama Rao and Charan), soundtrack, action sequences, cinematography and visual effects. The film was considered one of the ten best films of the year by the National Board of Review, making it only the second non-English language film ever to make it to the list. In addition to the awards already mentioned, RRR also won the Best Foreign Language Film and the Best Song award at the 28th Critics’ Choice Awards.

The plot of the movie is as follows:-

In 1920, during the British Raj, Governor Scott Buxton and his wife Catherine visit a forest in Adilabad and there abduct Malli, a young girl with a talent for artistry, from the Gond tribe. Enraged by this, the tribe’s guardian Komaram Bheem embarks for Delhi to rescue her, disguising himself as a Muslim man named Akhtar. Elsewhere, the Nizamate of Hyderabad, sympathetic to the Raj, warns Scott’s office of the impending danger. Undeterred, Catherine enlists A. Rama Raju, an ambitious officer in the Indian Imperial Police, to quell the threat. Seeking clues to Malli’s whereabouts, Raju and his uncle, Venkateswarulu, attend several pro-independence gatherings where he feigns to support independence.

Months later, Lachhu, Bheem’s gullible aide, is taken in by Raju’s ruse and attempts to recruit him into Bheem’s plot, but then discovers his true identity and flees. A short while later, Bheem and Raju encounter one other, unaware of their opposing allegiances. In the course of working in concert to save a boy from a train wreck, they form a friendship and over time grow close. Raju then assists Bheem in courting Jenny, Scott’s niece, unaware that Bheem plans to infiltrate Scott’s residence. When Jenny takes Bheem to her residence, Bheem locates the room where Malli is being held captive; he meets Malli and promises he will free her. Meanwhile, Raju deduces Lachhu’s true identity and apprehends him. While being interrogated, Lachhu goads a banded krait into attacking Raju, then warns him of his imminent fate and that the antidote is only known to the Gonds.

Dazed, Raju approaches Bheem, who immediately tends to him. Noticing similar religious features between Lachhu and Bheem, Raju deduces his true intentions. Nevertheless, Bheem divulges his tribal identity and his mission, still unaware of Raju’s true identity. At an event held in Scott’s honor, Bheem’s men barge into his residence with a lorry filled with wild animals, which creates havoc among the assembled guests. The animals maul Scott’s guards, allowing Bheem to briefly fight; however, Raju arrives and tells him Scott intends to kill Malli; he surrenders out of obligation. In the aftermath of the incident, Raju is promoted for thwarting Bheem, yet he is absorbed with guilt over his own actions, recalling his own pro-nationalistic background and his actual alter-ego as a mole within the police; he was seeking a promotion in order to gain access to shipments of guns to smuggle to his village.

At Bheem’s public flogging, Raju attempts to persuade him to recant his actions; Bheem chooses to be flogged instead. Bheem sings in defiance of his injuries, which incites the assembled crowd into rebellion. The riot further enlightens Raju, who finally realizes the recklessness of his actions. Determined to save his friend, he persuades Scott to execute Bheem in secret while preparing an ambush to rescue him. Scott figures out this scheme. While managing to rescue Malli from Scott’s men, Raju is grievously injured. Bheem, who had also managed to free himself, mistakenly interprets Raju’s actions as an attempt to kill Malli; he bludgeons him and escapes with her. Months later, Bheem, who is hiding out with his group and Malli in Hathras, is cornered by the colonial authorities. He narrowly avoids being exposed when Sita, Raju’s fiancée, repels them by claiming a smallpox epidemic as a pretext.

Unaware of Bheem’s identity, she reveals Raju’s actual, anti-colonial objectives and of his impending execution. Crestfallen upon realizing his own folly, Bheem vows to save him. With the assistance of a sympathetic Jenny, Bheem infiltrates the barracks where Raju is detained and frees him, defeating the many soldiers he aroused in the process. The pair retreat to a nearby forest, where they decimate more soldiers with the use of a longbow taken from a Rama shrine. Taking the fight to Scott, they hurl a flaming motorcycle into the barracks’ magazines, setting it afire. The subsequent explosion kills many within Scott’s company, including Catherine. Having finally cornered a wounded Scott, Raju has Bheem execute him with a British rifle, fulfilling their respective objectives. They steal a cache of Scott’s weaponry and reunite with Sita and Jenny.

To mark the completion of their missions, Raju asks Bheem to make a wish he can grant; Bheem asks Raju to provide education for him and his community.

So this was about the film’s story. Now we come to the song itself. The entire process of producing the song took over 19 months. Keeravani composed 10 to 20 different tunes based on that particular point in the script. Later, the team finalized this particular tune based on a voting process from their inner circle. The Telugu word naatu variously translates to ‘native’, ‘local’, ‘countryside’, ‘raw and rustic’, ‘ethnic’. Chandrabose wrote the lyrics based on his childhood memories. According to Chandrabose, he wrote 90% of the song in half a day but it took 1.7 years to write the remaining 10%. The word ‘naatu’ would be similar to word ‘Desi’ and it is not a surprise that the song is introduced as ‘Desi Naach’ in the Hindi film introduction.

The composer Keeravani likened the sound to the traditional beats of folk songs in Indian villages. Keeravani used duffs, an Indian skin drum for the instrumentation and added in mandolins for the melody. The song features a beat popular in South Indian music and “distinctive” to the dappankuthu genre of popular music.

RRR director Rajamouli conceived “Naatu Naatu” as a kind of fight sequence in which the Indian duo outdance their British counterparts. He also used the song as a foreshadowing for the climax sequence. “I think the biggest achievement for me was incorporating how the song comes into the film, without breaking the narrative,” he noted. Rajamouli described the sequence as “the story behind the story” and is like a short film of its own with different sub-plots.
Prem Rakshith choreographed the dance sequences. Rajamouli wanted steps “that would look great with two people doing it together, but not so complicated that no-one could do it.” Rakshith choreographed 110 moves for the hook step.

“Naatu Naatu” was shot in August 2021 in Ukraine as a part of the final leg of shooting of RRR. Filming took place at the Mariinskyi Palace, the official residence of the president of Ukraine in Kyiv, a few months before the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The song picturization took 15 days. The music video featured about 50 dancers and 300 to 400 extras.

The music video is a direct clip from a scene in RRR, which features Ram (Ram Charan) and Bheem (Rama Rao) singing the lyrics and out-dancing the rich British men at a fancy British party, encouraged by Bheem’s love interest Jenny (Olivia Morris). By the song’s climax, Ram and Bheem ignite a dance battle between themselves and the British men, who each fall down one by one as they fail to keep up; and despite being cheered for, Ram pretends to injure his leg and falls over to allow Bheem to win the battle and impress Jenny.

Within 24 hours of its release, the song crossed over 17 million views in Telugu (becoming the most-viewed Telugu song), and 35 million views in all five languages on YouTube. It also became the fastest Telugu song to cross 1 million likes. In February 2022, the song crossed over 200 million views in all languages.

The song received positive reception from audiences, praising the music. The hook step, performed by Jr NTR and Ram Charan, went viral on social media. Charan and Rama Rao often recreated the viral portion of the dance in the film’s promotions, as did director Rajamouli at the film’s success party with encouragement from Rama Rao.

In an article, Brenda Haas of Deutsche Welle referred to the song as a “global sensation”. She further opined and wrote that, “the song’s international popularity also underscores the fact that language is no barrier to enjoying music across borders”.

At Edison, New Jersey in 2023, numerous Tesla cars were assembled to have a show of light & sound, set to the music of this song.

We of course had a live performance at the Oscars by the singers of Naatu Naatu, Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava (who is also Keeravani’s son) with lots of dancers which was introduced by Deepika Padukone.

The combination of good music, lyrics, dance steps along with a back story featuring anti-coloniolism theme definitely struck a chord with the audience worldwide which explains the song’s huge popularity and the many awards it has been getting. In addition to the music and lyrics, As a youtube commenter observed The choreography, co-ordination of the actors’ moves, energy output and positive vibes from the actors is just outstanding. Another has observed This song belongs not only to India but to the world. The Hindi version Naacho Naacho has successfully conveyed the same emotions. Here Vishal Mishra replaces Kaala Bhairava in the singing department and the lyricist is Riya Mukherjee.

Here is the video of the song for your viewing pleasure, definitely a song to be seen and heard. Hats off to the team who created it.

Detailed credit courtesy Youtube Video
Music Director: M. M. Kreem
Lyricist: Riya Mukherjee
Singers: Vishal Mishra, Rahul Sipligunj
Choreography by: Prem Rakshith
Programmed by: G. Jeevan Babu, Siddharth S
Mixed and Mastered by: G. Jeevan Babu
Recorded at JB Studios.

Song-Naacho naacho (RRR)(2022) Singers-Vishal Mishra, Rahul Sipligunj, Lyrics-Riya Mukherjee, MD-MM Kreem

Lyrics(minus the dialogues by Riya Mukherjee)

Bail Jaise Dhool Uda Ke, Seeng Utha Ke Tum Bhi Naacho
Baaje Jam Ke Taal-Dhol, Beta Raju, Ud Ke Naacho
Teeron Se Bhi Tez Koi Kar Sake Jo Bhed Naacho
Astabal Mein Ghode Jaise Baag-Dor Chhod Naacho
Mitti Jota, Rot Mota, Mircha Khaa Ke Aise Naacho

Haan, Aaja, Chhore
Haan, Aaja, Gore
Haan, Aaja, Chhore
Naacho, Naacho-Naacho, Naacho-Naacho, Naacho, Veere, Naacho
Naacho, Naacho-Naacho, Naacho-Naacho, Naacho, Yaara, Naacho
Naacho, Naacho-Naacho, Kachchi Keri Jaisa Khatta Naacho
Naacho, Naacho-Naacho, Bichchu Kaata Laage Aisa Naacho

Goonje Dhol Aise Dekho Dhan-Dhana Ke Rogi Naache
Shor Sun Lo Hai Dhamaka, Jaise Sher-Haathi Naache
Dekho, Dil Ka Ye Mela, Yaara, Apne Saath Naacho
Ediyon Ke Joron Pe Dhoom-Dhadaak Desi Naacho
Who Paseena Maathe Ka Chamke-Damke Aise Naacho
Haan, Aaja, Chhore
Haan, Aaja, Gore
Haan, Aaja, Chhore
Naacho, Naacho-Naacho, Naacho-Naacho, Naacho, Veere, Naacho
Naacho, Naacho-Naacho, Naacho-Naacho, Naacho, Yaara, Naacho
Naacho, Naacho-Naacho, Aa Dobaara Raag Chheda, Naacho
Naacho, Naacho-Naacho, Usne Chakha Laage Teekha, Naacho

Jhoome Gaon, Hai Rela, Ooncha Paon Yun Patka
Hai ye Desi Ek Mela, Kaisa Raha Yakayaki
Naacho, Naacho, Naacho, Aa-Ha, Naacho

Are, Dhoom-Dhoom Thirke Jaa, Paaon Mein Jaan Jaga
Dhumuk-Dhumuk Naache Ja, Duniya Hila De Saari
Naacho, Naacho, Naacho
Dhink-Chaka
(Naacho, Naacho, Naacho)
(Naacho, Naacho, Naacho)
(Naacho, Naacho, Naacho)
(Naacho, Naacho, Naacho)
(Naacho, Naacho, Naacho)
(Naacho, Naacho, Naacho)
(Naacho, Naacho, Naacho)

Haan, Wahi

(Naacho, Naacho, Naacho)
(Naacho, Naacho, Naacho)
(Naacho, Naacho, Naacho)
(Naacho, Naacho, Naacho)
(Naacho, Naacho, Naacho)
(Naacho, Naacho, Naacho)
(Naacho, Naacho, Naacho)
———————————
Devnagari script Lyrics (Provided by Gajendra Khanna) (minus the dialogues by Riya Mukherjee)
——————————–

बैल जैसे धूल उड़ा के, सींग उठा के तुम भी नाचो
बाजे जम के ताल-ढोल, बेटा राजू, उड़ के नाचो
तीरों से भी तेज़ कोई कर सके जो भेद नाचो
अस्तबल में घोड़े जैसे बाग-डोर छोड़ नाचो
मिट्टी जोता, रोट मोटा, मिर्चा खाके ऐसे नाचो

हाँ, आजा, छोरे
हाँ, आजा, गोरे
हाँ, आजा, छोरे
नाचो, नाचो-नाचो, नाचो-नाचो, नाचो, वीरे, नाचो
नाचो, नाचो-नाचो, नाचो-नाचो, नाचो, यारा, नाचो
नाचो, नाचो-नाचो, कच्ची केरी जैसा खट्टा नाचो
नाचो, नाचो-नाचो, बिच्छू काटा लागे ऐसा नाचो

गूँजे ढोल ऐसे देखो धन-धना के रोगी नाचे
शोर सुन लो है धमाका, जैसे शेर-हाथी नाचे
देखो, दिल का ये मेला, यारा, अपने साथ नाचो
एड़ियों के ज़ोरों पे धूम-धड़ाक देसी नाचो
वो पसीना माथे का चमके-दमके ऐसे नाचो

हाँ, आजा, छोरे
हाँ, आजा, गोरे
हाँ, आजा, छोरे
नाचो, नाचो-नाचो, नाचो-नाचो, नाचो, वीरे, नाचो
नाचो, नाचो-नाचो, नाचो-नाचो, नाचो, यारा, नाचो
नाचो, नाचो-नाचो, आ दोबारा राग छेड़ा, नाचो
नाचो, नाचो-नाचो, उसने चखा लागे तीखा, नाचो

झूमे गाँव, है रेला, ऊँचा पाँव यूँ पटका
है ये देसी एक मेला, कैसा रहा यकायकी
नाचो, नाचो, नाचो, आ-हा, नाचो

अरे, धूम-धूम थिरके जा, पाँव में जान जगा
धुमुक-धुमुक नाचे जा, दुनिया हिला दे सारी
नाचो, नाचो, नाचो
ढिंक-चका

(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)

हाँ, वही

(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)
(नाचो, नाचो, नाचो)