Four Indian movies have made Indian cinema proud by being shortlisted for prestigious The Academy Awards (Oscars) for various categories. Among them are the megahit RRR shortlisted in the Best Original Song category while Chhello Show is India’s official submission for the Best International Feature category. And at Jay-Ho! The Jay Kumar Show, we couldn’t be prouder of Indian art and cinema. The world is surely awakening to the contributions, reach, and depth of Indian cinema’s excellence.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had announced the shortlists in 10 categories earlier on December 21. The Ram Charan and Junior NTR starrer RRR won rave reviews for its technical sophistication and its song Naatu Naatu. Social media was flooded with the complicated dance steps of Junior NTR and Ram Charan. Scarcely could people imagine that they were crooning along to an Oscar nominated song. Might we be saying Ram Charan and Jr NTR performing the Naatu Naatu on the Oscar stage? We can only keep our fingers crossed and hope so!
But, apart from the song, though SS Rajamouli heavily invested into getting the nods for his epic movie, it surprisingly failed to win a nomination in the technical categories when it came to the final list of 10 selections. According to reports, RRR had made it to the Top 20 list for technical categories but had failed to make the final cut after the final round of voting.
Meanwhile, the Pan Nalin directed Chhello Show, which means Last Film Show in English, is produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur and Dheer Momaya. Set in a Saurashtra village, the movie is a bildungsroman of a young boy’s love affair with cinema. As India’s official entry to the Oscars, it had made a rare achievement since the last Indian film to secure a nomination in the category was Lagaan, in 2001. The category was then called Best Foreign Language Film.
Apart from these two, Shaunak Sen’s acclaimed documentary All That breathes and the short documentary The Elephant Whisperer are also nominated. All That Breathes explores the efforts of two brothers to save the black kite bird, set in the backdrop of Delhi’s air pollution and a hard look at the gritty side of Delhi. With rave reviews by the National Board of Review, USA and the nomination at Producer Guild Awards, the movie has great chances of getting a spot in the final list.
Not that it is alone ! The Elephant Whisperers, a fully homegrown production, is also focussed on animals. The documentary explores the efforts of a South Indian couple who adopt an orphaned elephant named Raghu to ensure its survival. So lets hope India wins in these categories for it will be a shot in the arm for Indian documentary filmmakers.
Chhello Show will compete with 14 films in the foreign category, including ‘Argentina, 1985’ (Argentina), ‘Decision to Leave’ (South Korea), ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ (Germany), and ‘Close’ (Belgium) while Naatu Naatu will compete with 14 tracks. These include ‘Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength)’ from ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’, ‘Lift Me Up’ from ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’, and ‘Carolina’ from ‘Where the Crawdads Sing”.
The 95th Oscar Academy Awards is going to be held on 12th March 2023 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, USA.
