India is having a historic moment at the Oscars after winning the award for the documentary ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ and RRR’s song ‘Naatu Naatu’.
Table of Contents
The Oscars
The 95th Academy Awards took place in Los Angeles, USA, on March 12, 2023. The Indian actress Deepika Padukone was the third Indian star to present at the Oscars after Persis Khambatta and Priyanka Chopra. Deepika introduced the audience to the song Naatu Naatu by RRR, which was live-performed on stage by its singers Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava with 20 dancers. Jimmy Kimmel hosted the Academy Awards.
Indian cinema has grabbed the world’s attention with three Oscar nominations this year: The Elephant Whisperers, RRR, and All That Breathes. The film All That Breathes, directed by Shaunak Sen, was nominated in the Best Documentary Feature Film category but was won by Navalny.
The Elephant Whisperers
The Elephant Whisperers was released on Netflix in December 2022 and was directed by Kartiki Gonsalves and produced by Guneet Monga. It won Best Documentary Short Subject at the 95th Academy Awards. The other short subjects nominated in this category were How Do You Measure A Year?, Haulout, The Martha Mitchell Effect, and Stranger At The Gate. It is the first Indian film to win in this category and the third to be nominated in this category. Previously, The House That Ananda Built and An Encounter With Faces competed for Best Documentary Short in 1969 and 1979, respectively.
The Elephant Whisperers, is the tale of an orphaned elephant calf named Raghu in the care of Bomman and Belli, an indigenous couple , set in the Mudumalai National Park of Tamil Nadu, India. This film portrays the bond that develops between them and the natural beauty of their surroundings.
Naatu Naatu
The song ‘Naatu Naatu’ from the Indian movie and SS Rajamouli’s blockbuster ‘RRR’ was nominated for Best Original Song at the 95th Academy Awards. This song competed with Lift Me Up, Hold My Hand, Tell It Like a Woman, and This is a Life from “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” The film actors Junior NTR, Ram Charan, and the director SS Rajamouli were campaigning for Oscars in the US for the past few days. The song’s immense popularity, with 124 million views on YouTube and counting, powered the RRR team’s tireless campaign, headed by Rajamouli.
The music was written by Keeravani and the lyrics by Chandrabose, who was also present at the awards show to receive the award. M.M. Keeravani gave an outstanding speech regarding Indian music and conveyed his gratitude, after a historic Oscar win for his powerful anthem ‘Naatu Naatu’ from the SS Rajamouli film ‘RRR’.
Upasana Kamineni Konidela took to her Instagram handle to give fans a BTS glimpse of Ram Charan and Junior NTR’s epic reaction to the big win. The actors enjoyed watching the entire awards ceremony from their front-row balcony seats. They were seen hugging each other and blowing kisses to the stage when ‘Naatu Naatu’ basked in the award for Best Original Song.
