The dream run for Telugu cinema’s ‘RRR’ continues as the film bagged the coveted Oscars for the Best Original Song, “Naatu Naatu” lyrics by Chandrabose and composed by MM Keeravani and sung by Kala Bhairava and Rahul Sipligunj. Incidentally RRR was not picked as India’s official entry for the 95th Academy Awards but independently entered the awards and SS Rajamouli’s ‘RRR’ was highly appreciated by cine-goers as well as filmmakers like James Cameron and Steven Speilberg, who were captivated by the Indian filmmaker’s craft. Being the first Indian film to ever win an Academy Award in any category is a landmark moment for Indian cinema. Collecting the award for ‘RRR’ were Composer MM Keeravani (also popularly known as MM Kreem), along with lyricist Chandrabose. Facing tough competition from ‘Applause’ from Tell It Like A Woman, ‘Hold My Hand’ from Top Gun: Maverick, “Lift Me Up” from ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’, and ‘This is Life” from Everything Everywhere All At Once. On accepting the award Keerawani said “I grew up listening to The Carpenters and now here I am with the Oscars. There was only one wish on my mind, so was Rajamouli’s and our families, ‘RRR’ has to win, Pride of every Indian, must put me on the top of the world.” The song had also bagged the Golden Globe award a few weeks back.
Adding another feather to Indian cinema’s cap was ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ winning the Best Documentary Short the first Indian production to win under the category
Directed by Kartiki Gonsalves, the Netflix documentary faced stiff competition from four other films, ‘Haulout’, ‘How Do You Measure a Year?’, ‘The Martha Mitchell Effect’ and ‘Stranger at the Gate’. In this category, two Indian documentary short films have made it to the final list but missed out on the golden trophy. In her acceptance speech, Kartiki said, “I stand here today to speak for the sacred bond between us and our natural world, for the respect of indigenous communities, and empathy towards other living beings we share space with, and finally, for coexistence.”