Natu Natu: In an unprecedented achievement, the song Natu Natu from SS Rajamouli’s blockbuster RRR, made it to the shortlist for the 94th Academy Awards. Naatu Naatu thus became the first Indian song to achieve this feat.
Reacting to the achievement, actor Alia Bhatt wrote in her Instagram stories, ‘what a moment’.
There were three other Indian entries too shortlisted in the upcoming Oscars — Chhello Show (Last Film Show) besides the documentaries All That Breathes and The Elephant Whisperers all made it to the 95th Academy Awards shortlist. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the shortlists in 10 categories: documentary feature film, documentary short film, international feature film, makeup and hairstyling, music (original score), music (original song), animated short film, live action short film, sound, and visual effects.
Popular Telugu song from SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus RRR, Naatu Naatu secured a place in the best music (original song) shortlist. The film follows a pre-independence fictional story of two real-life Indian revolutionaries – Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan) and Komaram Bheem (Jr NTR) – in the 1920s.
Third nomination for Natu Natu
This is the third major international nomination for Naatu Naatu. The song is scomposed by MM Keeravaani and penned by Kala Bhairava and Rahul Sipligunj. It was previously nominated for a Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award.
At the Oscars, Naatu Naatu will face off with 14 other songs, which include Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength) from Avatar: The Way of Water, Lift Me Up from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Ciao Papa from Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Hold My Hand from Top Gun: Maverick, and Carolina from Where the Crawdads Sing.
Chhello Show (Last Film Show)
Directed by Pan Nalin, Chhello Show or Last Film Show in English, is a Gujarati-language coming-of-age story of a young boy’s love affair with cinema in a Saurashtra village. Produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur and Dheer Momaya, the film is part of the international feature film shortlist line-up.
The Chhello Show team was overjoyed. They said, “Ever since our selection by the Film Federation of India as India’s Official Entry to the 95th Oscars, we knew in our hearts that the film was bound for something special. We would like to thank the FFI, the millions of people who watched and admired Chhello Show, as well as our international distributors who gave the film a well-deserved push. This is a historic moment for India and we hope to bring the Oscar home very soon,” Kapur, Momaya and Nalin said in a joint statement.
According to the Academy’s official website, Chhello Show will compete with 14 other films, including Argentina, 1985 (Argentina), Decision to Leave (South Korea), All Quiet on the Western Front (Germany), Close (Belgium) and The Blue Caftan. (Morocco).
All That Breathes
Shaunak Sen’s All That Breathes is an internationally co-produced Hindi documentary. It is vying for a spot in the top five of the best documentary feature category. The Delhi-based movie follows two siblings, Mohammad Saud and Nadeem Shehzad, who have devoted their lives to rescue and treat injured birds, especially the Black Kites.
All That Breathes previously won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and also won the Golden Eye award for the best documentary at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.
Other 14 shortlisted nominees in the category are: All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, Bad Axe, Children of the Mist, Descendant, Fire of Love, Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song, Hidden Letters, A House Made of Splinters, The Janes, Last Flight Home, Moonage Daydream, Navalny, Retrograde, and The Territory.
The Elephant Whisperers
The Elephant Whisperers by Kartiki Gonsalves is a documentary on unbreakable bond between two abandoned elephants and their caretakers. It is produced by Oscar winner Guneet Monga of Period. End of Sentence fame.
To make it to the final five, the Tamil title will have to fight it out with The Flagmakers, Nuisance Bear, Shut Up and Paint, Angola Do You Hear Us? Voices from a Plantation Prison, Anastasia, and nine other documentary shorts in the section.
The nominations for the 95th Academy Awards will be announced on January 24, while the Oscars ceremony will be held on March 12, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles.
Also Read: Avatar: The Way of Water faces boycott calls from Native American activists: ‘No more Blueface’
Keep watching our YouTube Channel ‘DNP INDIA’. Also, please subscribe and follow us on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, and TWITTER
