India shines at Oscars 2023: ‘Naatu Naatu’ best original song, ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ best documentary short subject
New Delhi, March 13 (UNI): S Rajamouli directed film RRR’s song ‘Naatu Naatu’ won the ‘Best Original Song’ and Producer Guneet Monga’s ‘The Elephant Whisperers’, directed by Kartiki Gonsalves bagged the ‘Best Documentary Short Subject’ at the 95th Academy Awards on Monday.
The Naatu Naatu song is composed by MM Keeravaani and sung by Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava.
The song competed against ‘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 a Life’ from ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’.
‘RRR’ is a Telugu action drama, starring NTR Jr, Ram Charan, Alia Bhatt, Ajay Devgn and Shriya Saran, among others.
‘The Elephant Whisperers competed against Haulout, The Martha Mitchell Effect, Stranger At The Gate, and ‘How Do You Measure A Year?’.
Guneet took to social media and wrote, “We just win the first ever Oscar for an Indian Production! Two women did this! I am still shivering”.
In another post the filmmaker said, “Tonight is historic as this is the first ever Oscar for an Indian production”.
Thank you Mom Dad Guruji Shukrana To my Co-Producer Achin Jain, Team Sikhya, Netlflix, Aloke, Sarafina, WME Bash Sanjana. My lovely Husband Sunny. Kartiki for bringing & weaving this story”.
“To all the women watching….The future is audacious and the future is here Let’s go! Jai hind #theelephantwhisperers,” added Guneet.
‘The Elephant Whisperers’ is an Indian-American short documentary film, which tells the story of an indigenous couple named Bomman and Belli who are entrusted with an orphaned baby elephant named Raghu. They take great pains to ensure that the fragile, injured infant survives and grows to be a healthy juvenile.
A strong bond develops between the couple and the elephant. Set in the Mudumalai National Park in Tamil Nadu, the documentary also highlights the natural beauty of the location. It explores the life of the tribal people in harmony with nature.
Produced by Sikhya Entertainment, the film had its world premiere on November 9, 2022 at DOC NYC Film Festival, a film festival for documentaries in the United States.
It was released by Netflix on December 8, 2022.
