SS Rajamouli-directed RRR is going places. Early this month, RRR's Naatu Naatu song won the Golden Globe for the Best Original Song.
The award brought Naatu Naatu and its composer MM Keeravaani global fame. The hook step of Naatu Naatu also went viral.
...there's more to Naatu Naatu than global awards and a viral hook step. The location where the song is filmed is catching attention.
Photo: T-SERIES/YOUTUBEThe beautiful palace in the background is not a film set. It is none other than the Ukraine Presidential Palace itself.
Photo: T-SERIES/YOUTUBEThe shooting took place in June 2021, at the Mariinskyi Palace. It is impossible to imagine a film shoot in a war-weary Ukraine now.
Photo: AFPNatarajan Ramji is the man who showed the Ukraine Presidential Palace to SS Rajamouli, and the team subsequently picked it.
Photo: the_location_guru/INSTAGRAMNatarajan told the media that this was the first time that a film crew was permitted to shoot at the palace.
Photo: T-SERIES/YOUTUBEThe song required the work of 1,000 people, for 17 days. Naatu Naatu features an Indian and foreign cast in period costumes.
Photo: T-SERIES/YOUTUBEUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy uses this palace in Kyiv to receive foreign leaders. It continues to serve as the official residence of Ukraine's President.
Photo: afpThe palace was built in 1752 by a Russian Empress. Don't confuse it with Mariinsky Palace or Marie Palace in Russia's Saint Petersburg!