Los Angeles (USA): It is a historic day for India! India celebrates two big wins at the 2023 Oscars. Team 'RRR' and 'The Elephant Whisperers' both won at the 95th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, California, making it a historic day for Indian filmmakers and the audience.
RRR's Naatu Naatu
'Naatu Naatu' has won the award trumping big names like Rihanna and Lady Gaga.
The song that made millions groove to its beats was also performed on the Oscar stage by a power-packed singer duo Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava. It was a goosebump moment for all when Naatu Naatu took over the Oscars stage with American dancers doing full justice to the track. The audience loved Rahul and Kaala's performance as they all stood up from their seats and applauded them.
Image Credit: RRR's Twitter accountAmerican actor-dancer Lauren Gottlieb also grooved on the track. Actress Deepika Padukone introduced the song to the audience and called it a 'banger'.
Later, the team lifted the trophy as the hall lit up with loud cheers and claps. The moment lyricist Chandrabose and composer MM Keeravani accepted the trophy will always be remembered as a revolutionary moment for Indian cinema.
'Naatu Naatu' competed against 'Applause' from the film 'Tell It Like A Woman,' 'Hold My Hand' from the movie 'Top Gun: Maverick,' 'Lift me Up' from 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,' and 'This Is Life,' from 'Everything, Everywhere All At Once'.
Elephant Whisperers
Indian documentary film 'Elephant Whisperers' won the Oscar in the 'Best Documentary Short Film' category. Producer Guneet Monga along with director Kartiki Gonsalves took center stage to accept the honor.
In her winning speech, Gonsalves said, "I stand here today to speak on the sacred bond between us and our natural world. For the respect of indigenous communities. For entity towards other living beings, we share our space with. And finally for co -existence.Thank you to the academy for recognizing our film highlighting indigenous people and animals.To Netflix for believing in the power of this film.To Guneet my Producer and my entire team and finally, to my mother father and sister who are up there Somewhere, you're the center of my universe.To my motherland India."
Screen grab of the announcement tweet by The Academy.
The documentary won against 'Haul Out,' 'How Do You Measure A Year?' 'The Martha Mitchell Effect,' and 'Stranger At The Gate.'
The film's plot revolves around a family who adopts two orphan baby elephants in Tamil Nadu's Mudumalai Tiger Reserve.
Well, this is not the first time that Guneet Monga has brought the Oscar to India. In 2019, Guneet Monga's documentary 'Period. End of Sentence bagged the Oscar in the Documentary Short Subject.
