Oscars Host Jimmy Kimmel Calls “Naatu Naatu” A Bollywood Dance Number

Netizens were irked at Kimmel’s mistake, especially after Rajamouli’s repeated clarifications on the same

Every year the Oscars host kickstarts the ceremony with a monologue celebrating the biggest cinema moments from the past year. At the 95th Academy Awards, third-time host Jimmy Kimmel took to the stage with a parachute dragging behind him and started the ceremony with, “My Banshees are caught in my Inisherin right now.”

Kimmel celebrated the live movie-going experience, made a call-back to last year’s big moment – the Slap of Chris Rock by Will Smith, made comments on the diversity of nominees, and shouted out to critically acclaimed films that unfortunately didn’t make it to the nominations. 

Finally, the host ended his monologue by warning winners not to go over their allotted time. “This year”, he said as “Naatu Naatu” music began to play, “we’re not gonna play you off stage, instead we have a group of performers from the movie ‘RRR’ who are gonna dance you off stage. If you go too long, we’re gonna Bollywood dance you out of here. (sic)”

Western media and celebrities have oftentimes called ‘RRR’ a Bollywood movie because, for years, it has been considered to be synonymous with Indian cinema. However, that is not true, and director Rajamouli and the rest of the team have several times attempted to clear the confusion. 

When Jimmy Kimmel repeated the mistake during his monologue, Netizens took offence to it. One user wrote, "Not even 15 minutes in and Jimmy Kimmel called RRR Bollywood ugh." Another Twitter user said, "Jimmy Kimmel saying RRR is a Bollywood film is my last straw cause how is someone so lousy god I cannot take this."

Despite the fumble during the monologue, the live performance of the song “Naatu Naatu” was met with a standing ovation, a rare occurrence at the ceremony. Later in the evening, the song went on to win the award for “Best Original Song” making history as the first song from India to bring home the award.