Dec 22, 2022
By: BI India BureauThe 95th Academy Awards announced the shortlist across ten categories - Documentary Feature Film, Documentary Short Film, International Feature Film, Music (Original Song), and Visual Effects, among others.
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This year, four Indian movies—RRR, All That Breathes, The Elephant Whisperers, and The Last Film Show—made it to the shortlist across four different categories.
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Directed by Kartiki Gonsalves, this Tamil-language documentary competed against 98 films to make the shortlist. Currently streaming on Netflix, the film follows the journey of an indigenous couple who adopt an orphaned elephant.
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Out of the 144 films eligible for the category, 15 films were shortlisted, including Shaunak Sen’s All That Breathes. The film has already won Best Documentary at two international film festivals, Sundance & Cannes.
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India’s official submission, director Pan Nalin’s coming-of-age Gujarati drama Chello Show (Last Film Show) made it to the shortlist for the International Feature Film. This is the first time, in over 20 years, that an Indian movie has been shortlisted in the category. The film is available on Netflix.
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Rajamouli’s RRR was independently submitted for International Feature Film and Visual Effects, but it didn’t make the shortlist. However, Pakistan’s Joyland was shortlisted for International Feature Film, giving Pakistan its first shortlisted film in the category.
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The high-tempo song Naatu Naatu from RRR made it to the shortlist for Original Score. For the final nomination, it will compete with the likes of Rihanna’s Life Me Up (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), Lady Gaga’s Hold My Hand (Top Gun: Maverick), and Taylor Swift’s Carolina (Where the Crawdads Sing).
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These films have currently made it to the shortlist but that does not secure an Oscar nomination. The Academy members, across different branches, will vote to finalize the 5 nominees in every category.
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In the past, 3 Indian films have been nominated in the International Feature Film category - Mother India (1957), Salaam Bombay! (1988), and Lagaan (2001). None of these won.
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Lyricist Gulzar, music composer A.R. Rahman and sound engineer Resul Pookutty - all won an Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire. However, costume designer Bhanu Athaiya was the first Indian to ever win an Oscar, for the 1982 film Gandhi. Ace director Satyajit Ray also received the Honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement.
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