Naatu Naatu and Elephant Whisperers !!!! Yay ! The first ever Indian film to receive the Oscar is RRR. Elephant Whisperers is the first Indian documentary film to win the Oscar.
Music composer A R Rahman won two oscars, for Best Original Score and Best Original Song (alongside lyricist Gulzar) for the 2009 film Slumdog Millionaire. Before that, in 1983, Bhanu Athaiya got the Oscar for her costume design in the epic movie “Gandhi”.
Neither Slumdog Millionaire nor Gandhi were Indian films – both were made by foreign directors and producers. They ofcourse had Indian actors and Slumdog Millionaire was nearly a Hindi movie :).
Elephant Whisperers is a documentary in Tamil, about how a couple bonds with a rescued orphaned baby elephant. RRR is a movie made by an Indian and has a few foreign actors in supporting roles. So it’s a huge recognition for Indian films that these two films have received the Academy awards.
Enjoy the Naatu Naatu song once more –
Am glad that the Oscar went to a Telugu movie and a Tamil documentary rather than a Bollywood movie. I have nothing against Bollywood except the fact that they have been making really mediocre movies !! They twist facts, have Hinduphobic content and somewhere there is a lingering doubt in my mind that underworld don Dawood’s money dictates the script.
We watched RRR on OTT. It was a little OTT (Over the top) for me, but the editing and story telling was fabulous. The story is loosely based on real life freedom fighters Alluri Sita Rama Raju and Komaram Bheem. They never got together to fight the colonial powers in real life but RRR has re-imagined them as joining forces against the British.
I didn’t like the Naatu Naatu song much but loved the dancing. So glad that it was performed live at the Academy Awards function.
We are yet to watch the documentary Elephant Whisperers. Will do that shortly.
Congratulations to both the teams of RRR and Elephant Whisperers – you made India proud for all the right reasons.
#RRR #ElephantWhisperers #Oscar #NaatuNaatu
Way to go India ! Deepika Padukone presented Naatu Naatu as the first song from an “Indian” production house to be nominated at the Oscars. Which makes it really special. The President of India’s congratulatory note on The Elephant Whisperers is also really sweet and so very true!