MM Keeravani Says 'Ram Gopal Verma Was My First Oscar’, The Filmmaker Reacts

MM Keeravani won the Oscar in the Best Original Song category for the song 'Naatu Naatu' for SS Rajamouli's film RRR earlier this month. In a new interview, the composer has credited filmmaker Ram Gopal Verma for giving him the first break in the industry with Kshana Kshanam which released in 1991

MM Keeravani recalled the time when he was a newcomer in the industry while Ram Gopal Verma had delivered a big successful film like Siva. At that time, the director had taken a chance on him and it helped the composer gain more attention among the people in the industry.

In an interview with Galatta Plus, MM Keeravani was asked about his breakthrough with the director. He said, “Ram Gopal Verma was my first Oscar. Now I received the Academy Award in 2023, it is my second Oscar. Let me tell you why. Because like all the people I approach around 51 people, they might have... some of them might have thrown my audio cassette into the trash can... never heard me... who cares? A stranger approaches you and asks you to listen to his tune... some of them might have liked but they are not interested. But that was my merit.”

“Ram Gopal Verma gave me a chance to work for his movie Kshana Kshanam, but he was the 'Siva' Ram Gopal Verma... Siva played an Oscar role for him because it was his first movie being a mega-hit. And Ram Gopal Verma played an Oscar role in my career. He was my Oscar. So, who is this Keeravani who is this person... you never heard of him. But Mr Ram Gopal Verma is working with him now. That must be something. Book him, come on! Let's have him four our project also. That's how Ram Gopal Verma's association helped me in getting more chances. That's how he helped me a lot,” he added.

Ram Gopal Verma reacted to MM Keeravani's praise for him and posted the video on his Twitter and added in the caption, "Hey ⁦@mmkeeravaani I am feeling dead because only dead people are praised like this (cry face emoticons)."

Meanwhile, RRR released in March last year and told a fictional story of friendship between two real life freedom fighters - Alluri Seetharama Raju and Komaram Bheem. Ram Charan and Jr NTR played the lead roles. Ajay Devgn, Shriya Saran and Alia Bhatt also played important roles in the film that has collected more than ₹1,200 crore worldwide.