‘RRR’s song,‘The Elephant Whisperers’ Emerge Winners

India scored two victories at the Oscars 2023 with the popular RRR song Naatu Naatu bagging the Academy Award in the Best Original Song category. Guneet Monga’s documentary The Elephant Whisperers also won the Oscar for the Best Documentary Short film.

MM Keeravani composed the music for the song, Naatu Naatu, and Chandrabose wrote the lyrics of the song that has mesmerized fans across the globe. The musician and the lyricist accepted their award in Hollywood, California. Rahul Sipligunj and Kala Bhairava sang the song in RRR. Naatu Naatu is the first song from an Indian film to win an Oscar in the category. Earlier, ARAR
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Rahman’s Jai Ho won the award at the Oscars in 2019, but the song featured in Danny Boyle’s British production Slumdog Millionnaire.

Actor Jr NTR, who featured in the SS Rajamouli film along with Ram Charan, Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn, says in a press statement that the award is not just a win for the film, but also for India because it shows how far Indian cinema can go. “I cannot find the words to express my elation right now. I believe this is just the beginning. Congratulations to Keeravaani garu and Chandrabose garu.”

He adds, “Of course none of this would have been possible without a master storyteller called Rajamouli and the audiences who showered us with all the love. I would also like to congratulate the team of The Elephant Whisperers on their win today bringing another Oscar to India.”

The makers of RRR also issued a statement on social media and said, “We’re blessed that RRR is the first feature film to bring India’s first ever Oscar in the Best Song Category with Naatu Naatu! No words can describe this surreal moment. Dedicating this to all our amazing fans across the world. Thank you !! Jai Hind (hail India)!” Released in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and English languages in March 2022, RRR broke several box office records across the globe and earned more than $160 million worldwide.

Directed by Kartiki Gonsalves and produced by Monga, The Elephant Whisperers talks about a family that adopts two baby elephants in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu near a tiger reserve. Before this, Monga’s documentary Period. End of Sentence bagged the Oscar in the Documentary Short Subject category in 2019.

Hailing the fact that both the producer and the director of The Elephant Whisperers are women, Monga says in a statement, “This is an incredibly powerful and historical moment. We, as two women from India, stood on that global stage making this historical win. I’m so proud of this film, this moment and proud of my amazing team at Sikhya Entertainment, that an independent production house from India has made the history to be the first ever Indian film by an Indian production to win an Oscar.”

She adds, “My heart is racing with all the joy, love, excitement in the moment. I’m so grateful to Kartiki, the wonderful visionary that she is. NetflixNFLX
gave us the biggest stage in the world and supported us and believed in us all the way. Today I can say, the future for Indian cinema is audacious, the future is here and not to forget the future is truly female!”

India had three nominations this year at the Oscars – apart from RRR and The Elephant Whisperers, the documentary All That Breathes was also nominated in the documentary feature film category. The Indian film directed by Shaunak Sen lost the award to Daniel Roher’s Navalny.