RRR (2022)

naatu naatu pops into my head every so often and makes my day much better

Rightly.

I like Naatu Naatu a lot, but I have a hard time believing it would have been nominated for Best Song if it had, say, played over the end credits rather than in its visually exciting dance sequence.

Thus the genius.

They should put singing and dancing in more Indian films.

I have a hard time believing The Fabelmans would have been nominated for Best Original Screenplay if it had just been a three-hour shot of a framed photo of Spielberg's parents and then a quick table-read of the screenplay over the end credits.

ok, ok, ok.
I'm saying maybe it should have won a VMA instead of an Oscar

The choreo and editing are great, but the song hits so hard as an item of “film music” due to its role as a sequential piece of the story imo

Yeah I think a Best Song Oscar should go to something that interacts with the visuals in a meaningful way, as opposed to just a great song that works in any context. If I cared about Oscars, that is.

One thing I will say is if you loved RRR don't make it the only Indian action film you'll ever see - I know the running times and sheer amount of films make it a daunting area to explore but I've been going through Tollywood and Kollywood films like a fiend this year and castigating myself for ignoring this stuff for so long, it's the most pleasure I'm getting out of cinema period these days.