Oscars 2023: From ‘RRR’ to ‘All That Breathes’, a list of Indian nominations this year

India has a lot of reasons to look forward to the Oscars this year. India has bagged not one, but three nominations at the Academy Awards.

SS Rajamouli’s epic period drama ‘RRR’ bagged an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song ‘Naatu Naatu’. The song created history recently by becoming the first Indian song to win the Best Original Song award at the 80th Golden Globes. The chartbuster will compete with contenders such as ‘Applause’ from ‘Tell It Like a Woman’, ‘Hold My Hand’ from ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, ‘Lift Me Up’ from ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ and ‘This Is a Life’ from ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’.

MM Keeravani reacted to the news of the nomination by congratulating the ‘RRR’ team on Twitter. “Congratulations to my team !! Big hugs to all,” he wrote.

Rajamouli’s father, the legendary screenwriter V Vijayendra Prasad, who also penned the story of ‘RRR’, told PTI that it was a ‘proud moment for the entire nation’. “It is a proud moment for the entire team of ‘RRR’. It is a proud moment for India, for the Telugu movie industry, and for Indian cinema,” Prasad told the news agency.

Two Indian docudramas also got blessed with some nominations. ‘All That Breathes’ a documentary directed by Shaunak Sen, and Kartiki Gonsalves’ directorial ‘The Elephant Whisperer’ each earned a nomination in the categories of Best Documentary Feature Film and Best Documentary Short Film. ‘All That Breathes’ also bagged a nomination for BAFTA Award. Set in the backdrop of Delhi, the movie revolves around two siblings, Mohammad Saud and Nadeem Shehzad, who spend their time rescuing and rehabilitating injured birds, especially black kites.

‘All That Breathes’ will be competing with competitors such as ‘All the Beauty and the Bloodshed’, ‘Fire of Love’, ‘A House Made of Splinters’ and ‘Navalny’, for an Oscar.

‘The Elephant Whisperer’ explores a deep and devoted bond between abandoned elephants and their caregivers. The movie will compete with other docu-dramas such as Haulout’, ‘How Do You Measure a Year’, ‘The Martha Mitchell Effect’ and ‘Stranger at the Gate’.

‘The Last Show’ which was India’s official entry to the Oscars, failed to make the cut.