Prem Rakshith

Some Lesser Known Facts About Prem Rakshith

• Prem Rakshith is an Indian choreographer who has worked in the Tamil and Telugu film industry. He is known for choreographing the 2022 pan-India film RRR’s song Naatu Naatu which won the Best Original Song Award at the Golden Globe Awards on 11 January 2023.

• Prem worked at a tailor shop before starting his career as a choreographer.

• Prem Rakshith gained prominence after he worked as a choreographer in the 2005 Telugu film Chatrapathi. In an interview, he said that when the director of the film, S. S. Rajamouli, asked about the choreographer of the film Vidyardhi, Prem was hesitant to tell him that it was him as he thought that he had not performed well in his debut film and was scared of losing his job as a dance teacher to Rajamouli’s kids. He said,
  

  Initially I was reluctant to tell him it was me, fearing that I might lose my job as dance master.”

  

  

• In 2007, he worked as a choreographer in several Telugu films like Yamadonga, Mantra, and Pourudu. For the film Yamadonga, Prem received an award for the best choreographer.

• Prem Rakshith choreographed the songs of a 2007 Tamil film titled Azhagiya Tamil Magan and won an award for best choreography.

  

• In 2008, he choreographed several songs in Telugu films like Aatadista, Bhale Dongalu, and Kalidasu. In the same year, he worked as a choreographer in the Telugu film Kantri for which he received three awards.

• In the 2009 Telugu film Magadheera, Prem worked as a choreographer. The film won several national accolades. In the same year, he choreographed the songs of Arya 2 for which he was given an award for best choreography.

  

• In 2010, he choreographed a Telugu film titled Adhurs and was awarded the best choreographer award. In the same year, he choreographed several Telugu films like Kedi, Darling, and Simha. Later, he choreographed a Tamil film Sura.

• For the 2011 Telugu film Badrinath (also spelt as Badrenath), he received an award for best choreography. He choreographed a Tamil film titled Velayudham in the same year.

• He choreographed several 2012 Telugu films like Kandireega, Dhada, and Bezawada.

• In 2014, he worked as a choreographer in a Telugu action comedy film titled Aagadu for which he won an award for best choreographer.

• Prem worked as a choreographer in the 2015 blockbuster pan-India epic action film Baahubali: The Beginning. He received an award for best choreography for the film.

• In 2017, he choreographed several songs in the pan-Inida film Baahubali 2: The Conclusion. In the same year, he worked in the Tamil film Mersal as a choreographer.

  

• For the 2018 Telugu film Rangasthalam, Prem Rakshith received the best choreographer award.

  

• Prem Rakshith choreographed the famous song Naatu Naatu in the 2022 pan-India film RRR. The film not only receive a Golden Globe Award but was also nominated for the 2023 Oscars in the Best Original Song category. In an interview, Prem said that he worked for two months on the film RRR and produced 97 dance steps for Ram Charan and Jr NTR He also said that he was scared to choreograph for the actors in the film as he did not want one actor to look less impressive than the other. Talking about it, he said,
  

  It is a challenge to choreograph two stars. Each superstar has his own style. For Naatu Naatu, It was difficult to take two styles and put them in one. I took it up as a challenge. It took me two months to choreograph it. We shot for 20 days and did 43 retakes. When Rajamouli told me about Naatu I was scared as I feared that one of the stars might look less impressive than the other because of me. I needed to show them in the same energy. We improvised a lot on the song till the end.”

• Before Prem Rakshith started his career as a choreographer, he had thought of committing suicide as he wasn’t earning well, and the family was undergoing a financial crunch. He thought that after his suicide, the dance academy with which he was working would give Rs 50,000 to his parents. He, however, changed his decision when his father told him that he was selected to work as a dance extra in a film. In an interview, while talking about it, he said,
  

  Ours was a joint family, but due to some difficulties we moved out in 1993. The going became tough for the family. I knew that if I died, my dance union federation would give my family Rs 50,000 as compensation. So I decided to commit suicide. I cycled to the Marina beach in Chennai. But I realised that the guy who loaned me the cycle would ask my parents to return it, so I went back to give the cycle to my father.”

Ram Charan and Jr NTR performing the famous step that was choreographed by Prem Rakshith