Indian cinema witnessed one of its biggest moments of glory on a global stage on Monday morning when The Elephant Whisperers won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short and RRR’s song ‘Naatu Naatu’ won for Best Original Song. Both The Elephant Whisperers and RRR (Rise, Roar, Revolt) are Indian productions that tell stories deeply rooted in India and its culture. The Kartiki Gonsalves-directed The Elephant Whisperers is a heartwarming documentary about Bomman and Bellie, a couple belonging to an indigenous tribe in south India, who dedicatedly look after orphaned baby elephants named Raghu and Ammu, forging a family like no other. In contrast, S S Rajamouli-directed RRR is a grand cinematic tale that packs action, adventure, music and dance as it follows the friendship of two revolutionaries who fight the British in the 1920s.
When musician M M Keeravani and lyricist Chandrabose received the coveted golden statuettes for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards, it marked the culmination of the euphoria that ‘Naatu Naatu’, the electrifying song-and-dance sequence from RRR had kicked off. The song’s immense popularity — 126 million views on YouTube and counting — powered the RRR team’s tireless campaign, spearheaded by Rajamouli. This campaign acquired a special significance since the RRR team continued its efforts to bring home the coveted golden statuette even after being snubbed during India’s official selection made by the Film Federation of India (FFI) for the country’s official entry for the Academy Award in the Best Foreign Film category.
When the FFI chose the Pan Nalin-directed Chhello Show as India’s entry (Chhello Show was later shortlisted for the Academy Award), for a brief period it was feared that RRR’s Oscar campaign might be cut short. In the past, movies such as The Lunchbox (2013) and The Disciple (2020), could not sustain their Oscar campaign when they were not picked as India’s official entry despite receiving impressive international acclaim. Emboldened by the love and appreciation the Telugu-language RRR had received since its release abroad, the team submitted the film for Oscars nomination in 14 categories.
Notwithstanding the incredible buzz generated by this period drama, RRR made it to just one category — Best Original Song — in the final Oscar shortlist. That’s still a commendable feat since the Rajamouli directorial didn’t have the official backing. RRR continued to make its presence felt in the award season with multiple wins, the most prominent being the Golden Globe Award for Best Song, five Hollywood Critics Association Awards and two Critics’ Choice Movie Awards. This kind of success for a mainstream Indian movie during the award season could change the way Indian filmmakers pursue international glory and recognition.
Recalling his pre-Oscar experience, A R Rahman (who won the Oscar in 2009 for Best Score in Slumdog Millionaire) in a social media post recalled feeling like a “gladiator” with everyone around cheering for him. Rajamouli and his team must have experienced similar emotions. With the Oscar win, what they have achieved is unprecedented. They have also acquainted the foreign audience with older works of Rajamouli, which were re-released in American theatres as well as sought out by curious film lovers. Will this lead to the audience discovering other popular Indian movies? That is possible if their makers can find a way to capitalise on this momentum. We now have a resounding proof with RRR’s Oscar victory that the foreign audience loves song and dance just as much as Indians do. After all, the loudest applause at Dolby theatre during the award ceremony was reserved for the exuberant ‘Naatu Naatu’ performance.
This momentum, however, was not created by RRR alone. The Shaunak Sen-directed All That Breathes was nominated for the Best Documentary Feature Film category of the 95th Academy Awards while The Elephant Whisperers, produced by Guneet Monga and Achin Jain, was a frontrunner for the award in the Best Documentary Short Film category. All That Breathes follows two brothers who have dedicated their lives to rescuing and treating the Black Kites in Delhi undaunted by its pollution as well as a changing social fabric. In fact, All That Breathes had been garnering high praises and awards, including L’OEil d’Or award during the Cannes Film Festival, since its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2022.
Never before has India had three productions nominated at the Academy Awards — besides an Indian celebrity presenter, actor Deepika Padukone — in the same year. This is enough to evoke jubilation among film lovers in the country. In the run-up to the award ceremony, the details of special dinners and parties attended by the nominees only heightened that feeling. The awards have also put the spotlight on Indian talents as well as the country’s unique storytelling traditions. This global attention was long overdue. In spite of the foreign audience appreciating the films of several Indian filmmakers including Satyajit Ray, Guru Dutt, Shyam Benegal, Mira Nair and others, their work had not received such a sweeping response.
The timing for such overwhelming appreciation for Indian stories and storytelling couldn’t have been better. Online streaming services have blurred geographical barriers. Now, Indian titles can now be watched in any corner of the globe. So, efforts should be made to draw the audience beyond the diaspora to the theatres to watch Indian films. The Oscar nominations have created the perfect opportunity for Indian documentaries, which are often not appreciated enough by the home audience though they tell powerful stories, to find a wider audience. With All That Breathes’s selection, an Indian documentary was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film for the second year in a row. Last year, Writing with Fire, directed by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh, too was nominated in the same category. It was probably just a matter of time that Indian documentary filmmakers brought the coveted statuette home.
The Academy has been batting for “diversity” and “inclusivity” as it tries to steer clear of “Oscars so white” slur. This shift in attitude might make it comparatively easier for Indian talent to secure a place on the Oscar stage. Since Hollywood biggies including James Cameron and Steven Spielberg have expressed an interest in Rajamouli’s work, perhaps we can expect some exciting collaborations in future. But the road ahead is still full of challenges. The biggest pitfall for Indian filmmakers would be to bank on RRR-clones for global fame. Remaining truthful to their vision and finding unique stories to narrate, however, might help them capture the audience imagination worldwide.
alaka.sahani@expressindia.com
