It was a day of celebration as two Indian films – the action movie "RRR," won honours for best original song, and "The Elephant Whisperers," won best documentary short film award at Oscars on Sunday night. The song "Naatu Naatu," - a fast-paced number that has found fans all over the world, spawned a TikTok challenge and has millions of views on YouTube - won a standing ovation when it was performed at the 95th Academy Awards.
Indians had won Oscars previously, but no Indian film had won an Academy Award before Sunday night in Los Angles. "No words can describe this surreal moment. Dedicating this to all our amazing fans across the world. THANK YOU!!," the Twitter account for "RRR" posted.
The first one was a small, handcrafted gem: an emotionally nourishing, wildlife-friendly tale almost lyrical in its tenderness and quietude. The second one arrived in a swaggering action packed, anti-colonial extravaganza also showcasing some of the most frenzied dance moves ever seen on the big screen. A documentary (“The Elephant Whisperers”, Tamil) and a Telugu film song (“Naatu Naatu” from “RRR”) of contrasting styles and temperament, but united by a common Made in India stamp, created history on Sunday evening in America and left India gushing and rejoicing all Monday.
At the glitz glam 95th Oscar awards, producer Guneet Monga and director Kartiki Gonsalves’s “The Elephant Whisperers” was declared winner in the documentary short film category. India’s delight doubled as composer M M Keeravaani and lyricist Chandrabose received the coveted statuette in the original song category for the infectious “Naatu Naatu”.
Indians have won Oscars in past, but not in home productions
Indians have won Oscars in the past. But they were not in home productions. A R Rahman, Gulzar, Resul Pookutty were winners in Danny Boyle’s 'Slumdog Millionaire.' Bhanu Athaiya’s Oscar came for best costume design in Richard Attenborough’s 'Gandhi'. Satyajit Ray had received an honorary Oscar for his “rare mastery of the art of motion pictures”. On Monday, Delhi-based film director Shaunak Sen’s “All That Breathes” lost out to “Navalny” in the documentary feature category. The prize-winning film is based on the life of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Deepika introduces RRR ‘Naatu Naatu’ in Oscars
Deepika Padukone has made heads turn at Oscars 2023. Before RRR's 'Naatu Naatu's' live performance, the actress, who looked absolutely beautiful in a velvet black gown, took over the Oscars platform alone. She accurately conveyed the essence of the music that had convinced the world to abandon salsa and flamenco in favour of "desi naach," also known as naatu, amidst loud applause and hooting.
Singers Kaala Bhairava and Rahul Sipligunj took over the Oscars stage and sang the song live. Dancers set the stage on fire with their energetic performance. Actress and dancer Lauren Gottlieb was one of the dancers on stage. It was so enigmatic that it also received a standing ovation from the audience.
Asian representation had historic night
The 95th Academy Awards marked a significant night for Asian representation in film with a number of firsts, including the first Asian woman to receive best actress and the first Oscar wins for Indian productions.
PM Narendra Modi congratulated the winners. Referring to the makers of “The Elephant Whisperers”, he tweeted, “Their work wonderfully highlights the importance of sustainable development and living in harmony with nature.”In another post, he congratulated Kreem and Chandrabose. “The popularity of ‘Naatu Naatu’ is global. It will be a song that will be remembered for years to come… India is elated and proud,” Modi said.
First Oscar for an Indian women production
'The 'Elephant Whisperers by director-producer duo Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga bagged the Best Documentary Short Award at the 95th Academy Awards. This makes it the first Indian production to win under the category. While receiving the award, 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,” Gonsalves said in her acceptance speech.” She then thanked the Academy, the producer of the short, Guneet Monga, and her family before dedicating the win to her “motherland India”.
“Thank you to the Academy for recognising our film, highlighting indigenous people and animals. To Netflix for believing in the power of this. To Bomman and Belli for sharing their sacred tribal wisdom. To Guneet, my producer. To my entire team and finally, to my mother, father and sister who are up there somewhere and you are the centre of my universe, to my motherland India,” she said.
The last time an Indian-born woman won an Oscar was in 1983. A costume designer named Bhanu Athaiya won for the Hollywood production 'Gandhi.' For the first time in 40 years, not one, but two Indian women have taken home an Oscar, and India has also won an Oscar for a film that was totally filmed there.
‘Gully boy’ from Hyderabad was not first choice as singer
Oscar luck must be written in the stars. Or else how do you explain a 33-year-old from the Old City of Hyderabad wowing the Oscar stage when he wasn’t even supposed to have originally recorded the song that has taken the film world by storm? Rahul Sipligunj’s musical journey began in the lanes of Dhoolpet when he was barely out of his teens. And now he has not only seen 'Naatu Naatu' bag Oscar glory but also got to perform the song along with co-singer Kaala Bhairava on arguably the film world’s biggest stage.
Rahul began by posting song videos on YouTube before he got to sing for the film ‘College Bullodu’ in 2009 and earned rave reviews with ‘Ranga Ranga Rangasthalana’ from the Sukumar-directed ‘Rangasthalam’. He would go on to find fame with his victory in the Telugu ‘Bigg Boss’ and also sing for several music directors.
But when the makers were ready with 'Naatu Naatu', Rahul was asked if he would sing only the track for the song, which is a sort of a trial version to confirm that everything is right musically. The music director thereafter gets the song sung by a singer of his choice. But MM Keeravani decided he would get the song sung by Rahul himself. The rest is the stuff of magic. Some of the Oscar glitter also lends a different sheen to Dhoolpet - a locality known for artisans sculpting Ganesha idols in multiple hues that had achieved notoriety due to dealers of arrack and ganja. Now, it finds itself on the movie map thanks to its very own ‘gully boy’.
Before the show, Rahul tweeted in typical Hyderabadi style, “Today is going to be my big dayyyyy! Bless me chichaasss. Love you all. ” Later, posting a photo with Keeravani, he wrote, “Congratulations to my guru Shri M M Keeravani sir on winning the Oscar. He believed in me and made me hold the prestigious award.”
‘Whisperers’ a loud ovation for India’s unsung elephant warriors
There are many poignant accounts of orphaned elephant calves being rehabilitated by tribal mahouts in the Theppakadu Camp at Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in the Nilgiris, a hill district in Tamil Nadu. One such tale is that of Raghu and Bommi, calves orphaned in the years 2017 and 2019, respectively, who were assigned to K Bomman, a tribal mahout, and Bellie, a tribal assistant in the elephant camp. The Oscar winning documentary short film, ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ celebrates the dedication of the mahouts and the calves and the subsequent human-animal bonding.
It was a joyous moment for India when Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga’s ‘Elephant Whisperers’ bagged the award for Best Documentary Short Film. Film director Kartiki Gonsalves thanked the Academy, producer Guneet Monga, her family, and dedicated the award to her motherland. She thanked the Academy and video-streaming giant Netflix for believing in the power of the concept, and Bomman and Bellie for “sharing their sacred tribal wisdom”.
It is not an easy task to take care of elephants when they enter the camp as a wild adult or a calf. “It was, however, easier for me when I took charge of Raghu in 2017 and Bommi in 2019 because I had grown up with elephants,” said K Bomman, the hero of the film.
Normally, when an abandoned calf is brought to the camp in the nursing stage, the forest department assigns a mahout couple to rear it. In 2017, Raghu, an abandoned one-and-a-half-month-old calf from Hosur Forest, was handed over to Bomman for caretaking. His wife Bellie was roped in by the forest department to help Bomman as the calf had to be fed milk.
Thus began the journey of Gonsalves and Monga’s ‘The Elephant Whisperers’. They hadn’t imagined winning an Oscar when they started the short film inspired by the native wisdom of the mahout couple taking care of the two abandoned calves. The short film was produced by Netflix and it was widely watched and applauded.