Oscars 2023 nominations: RRR’s SS Rajamouli fails to make the cut in Best Director category

RRR's SS Rajamouli failed to secure a nomination in Oscar's Best Director category. Rajamouli was the face of an elaborate awards campaign that sustained interest in the film across months.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | Updated: January 24, 2023 11:02 PM IST

3 min read

Ram Charan, SS Rajamouli and Jr NTR at a pre-release event of RRR in Chennai. (Photo: RRRMovie/Twitter)

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RRR director SS Rajamouli did not secure a nomination in the Best Director category at the Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars. The nominations for the 95th edition of the prestigious awards were announced Tuesday evening by actor Allison Williams and actor-rapper-producer Riz Ahmed.

The nominees in the Best Director category are — Martin McDonagh (Banshees of Inisherin), Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans), The Daniels (Everything Everywhere All At Once), Todd Field (Tar), and Ruben Ostlund (Triangle of Sadness).

While RRR failed to make the cut in any other major category, it did manage to score an Oscar nomination in the Best Original Song category for “Naatu Naatu” composed by MM Keeravani.

SS Rajamouli was the face of the film’s elaborate awards campaign, which began after it gained cult status in the US following its Netflix debut. Starring Ram Charan and Jr NTR, RRR rode a wave of success in the West, and attracted glowing endorsements from prominent Hollywood personalities. Among the film’s most notable honours in the US are a Best Director award for Rajamouli at the New York Film Critics Circle honours, an inclusion in the National Board of Review’s top 10 films of the year list, a Best Original Song award at the Golden Globes, and two honours at the Critics Choice Awards. Although crucially, it wasn’t nominated at the Producers Guild Awards and the Directors Guild Awards, both of which are considered vital predictors for Oscar success. RRR was famously not picked as India’s official entry in the Best International Film category, despite being considered a firm favourite in the category.

Also read | Amazed James Cameron encourages SS Rajamouli’s Hollywood ambitions, whispers in his ear, ‘If you ever wanna make a movie over here, let’s talk’

While no Indian has been nominated in the Best Director Category, filmmakers Mehboob Khan, Mira Nair and Ashutosh Gowariker have been nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film category for Mother India, Salaam Bombay and Lagaan, respectively. The last time India tasted Oscars success was over a decade ago, when composer AR Rahman, lyricist Gulzar, and sound designer Resul Pookutty picked up Oscars for their work on Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire. Last year, Writing with Fire was nominated in the Best Documentary Feature category. Bhanu Athaiya became the first ever Indian to win an Oscar, for her costumes in Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi. In 1992, legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray was awarded an honorary Oscar.

SS Rajamouli is India’s most commercially successful filmmaker, having helmed the blockbuster Baahubali movies prior to leading RRR to over Rs 1200 crore at the global box office. Next up, he’s directing an adventure film starring Mahesh Babu. Rajamouli is also expected to direct a sequel to RRR, provided he isn’t lured to Hollywood first.

The 95th Academy Awards will be held on March 13 (IST), and the ceremony will be hosted for the third time by comedian Jimmy Kimmel.

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