New Delhi: Two of the three Indian nominations at the 95th Academy Awards have emerged the winners.
An Indian documentary, The Elephant Whisperers, has won an Oscar for the Best Documentary Short Film. The film, directed by Kartiki Gonsalves and produced by Guneet Monga, was nominated alongside Haulout, The Martha Mitchell Effect, Stranger At The Gate and How Do You Measure A Year?
‘The Elephant Whisperers’ wins the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Film. Congratulations! #Oscars #Oscars95 pic.twitter.com/WeiVWd3yM6
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 13, 2023
This is the first Indian film to win an Academy Award in this category.
The Elephant Whisperers tells the story of an indigineous couple, Bomman and Belli, who are entrusted with an orphaned baby elephant, Raghu. It is set in the Mudumalai National Park in Tamil Nadu.
Monga celebrated the win on Twitter, saying she was “still shivering”
We just win the first ever Oscar for an Indian Production!
Two women did this! I am still shivering ♥️🐘♥️🐘♥️
— Guneet Monga (@guneetm) March 13, 2023
The Elephant Whisperers was released on Netflix in December last year.
The third Indian nomination this year was Shaunak Sen’s All That Breathes in the Best Documentary Feature Film category.
‘Naatu Naatu’, a song from S.S. Rajamouli’s film RRR, won the Oscar for the Best Original Song. The song was composed by M.M. Keeravani, with lyrics by Chandrabose and vocals by Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava.
“Naatu Naatu” from #RRR wins Best Original Song at the #Oscars. https://t.co/ndiKiHfmID pic.twitter.com/d7ZSoRps2d
— Variety (@Variety) March 13, 2023
‘Naatu Naatu’ was also performed live at the award ceremony, introduced by Deepika Padukone. “An irresistibly catchy chorus, electrifying beats and killer dance moves to match have made this song a global sensation. It plays during a pivotal scene in ‘RRR’, a movie about the friendship between real-life Indian revolutionaries Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem. In addition to being sung in Telugu and illustrating the film’s anti-colonialist themes, it’s also a total banger!” she said.
“It’s earned millions of views on Youtube and Tik Tok. Has audiences dancing in movie theatres all around the world and is also the first song ever from Indian production to be nominated for an Oscar. Do you know Naatu? Because if you don’t you’re about to. From the film RRR this is Naatu Naatu,” she continued.
The performance got a standing ovation.