Lauren Gottlieb, an American dancer and actress who began her Bollywood career with ABCD: Any Body Can Dance and has appeared in a number of Hindi films, is both emotional and eager as she prepares to perform to RRR’s Naatu Naatu at the Oscars on Sunday night in Los Angeles.

Lauren told BT that she had been on hold for five days. They couldn’t officially confirm because the creatives kept changing. I was in Paris when I received the final confirmation, so the next thing I did was rush to LA to buy a few weeks’ worth of rehearsal clothes. My friends Napoleon and Tabitha D’umo are choreographing the song for the big night.

Before I started my career in India, I was going to assist them on large stage shows in Hollywood. They contacted me with this offer. Today, in the middle of rehearsals, I became emotional thinking about how much it means to me to show India at the Oscars. I’m so proud of it, and I hope everybody else feels the same way when they see it.”

“Strangely, I’m not nervous at all!” Lauren says When questioned whether she’s nervous about performing on this prestigious platform.

However, I believe it will feel different on the day of the show, especially standing on stage knowing we are broadcasting live around the world.

For the time being, I’m concentrating on rehearsing my dance moves, going through costume and hair/make-up trials, and resting my body after long days of rehearsals. All I want to do is savour each moment of this experience.

I believe the chances of Naatu Naatu winning are huge,” she concludes. I’m going to be dancing like hell backstage if they win!

“I feel extremely happy to have been given the opportunity to represent India on such a global scale,” Lauren said of the opportunity. The Oscars are one of the world’s largest platforms, and for India to be represented in such a significant way and to be nominated is wonderful.

Lauren Gottlieb stated that she and her choreographers Napoleon and Tabitha D’umo are working hard to achieve the appropriate balance between the sharpness of the western stage and the freedom of India’s street style.

It’s been a fantastic week sharing my skills of Indian dance and my life in India with the entire cast.

Dancing is a huge aspect of Indian culture.

The choreographers tried to keep as close to Naatu Naatu’s moves as possible, Lauren explains. Several aspects have to be changed to fit the stage.

I told the crew about my experiences living and working in India, as well as how significant dancing is in Indian culture.

We learnt the choreography on the first day of rehearsals, and on the second day, I demanded that we tone down the sharpness of our western style and dance with our hearts and souls, which also meant focusing a lot on facial expressions as we do in India. I even demanded that the male lead dancers lip sync to the song.

 

In SS Rajamouli’s RRR, Naatu Naatu was composed by MM Keeravani. These have been nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song in 2023. Naatu Naatu is the first Indian song to get an Oscar nomination.