India shines at Oscars: RRR’s country, Elephant Whisperers win
New Delhi: RRR came, saw and absolutely won the 95th Academy Awards in Los Angeles. Country Country won the Oscar for Best Original Song — and let’s be honest, was that ever out of reach? – And there was no question of keeping calm and carrying on. Oscars were awarded to composer MM Keeravani and lyricist Chandra Bose for their version of The Carpenters’ hit Top of the World. The RRR song directed by SS Rajamouli and starring actors Ram Charan and Jr. NTR at the Academy Awards went viral. Country beat the heavyweight contenders – Lady Gaga’s Hold My Hand from Top Gun: Maverick, Rihanna’s Lift Me Up from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, This Is a Life of Everywhere, It’s a Life of Everything All at One It Like. A woman.
This is the second win for an Indian film – The Elephant Whisperers won the award for Best Documentary Short. All That Breathes was also nominated for Best Documentary – an Oscar that went to Navalny.
Members of the Indian film industry came together to congratulate the RRR team after their huge success at the Oscars. Film legends Rajinikanth and Chiranjeevi, RRR stars Alia Bhatt, Ajay Devgn, Academy Award winning composer AR Rahman, actors Hrithik Roshan, Mahesh Babu and many other celebrities have extended their congratulations after the film’s glorious success.
Country’s global dominance is now complete by winning the Golden Globe for Best Original Song in January. The song was performed live during the Oscars by singers Rahul Sipliganj and Kala Bhairava, and choreographed by Lauren Gottlieb. Deepika Padukone, the third Indian to host after Persis Kambhata and Priyanka Chopra, introduced the act.
MM Keeravani and Chandra Bose join a select group of Oscar-winning Indians – fashion designer Banu Athiya, music composer AR Rahman, lyricist Gulzar, sound engineer Resul Pookutty and legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray who received the honour. Nattu Nadu is the first Indian song to win an Oscar – RRR – the first Indian film.
Set in British India, RRR has won hearts around the world – it’s running to full houses in Japan and recently had its biggest screening at a Los Angeles theater, where the audience danced to country music. Shot outside the presidential palace in pre-war Ukraine, the song is an infectious dance battle between Ram Charan and Jr. NTR’s characters Raju and Bhim and their British counterparts. Raju and Bheem are the last ones standing and do the sorry dance, besting their opponents after their complicated routine.
