Naatu Naatu song from S S Rajamoulis blockbuster RRR makes history at this edition of the Oscars, having the world dancing to its tune

The song “Naatu Naatu” from S S Rajamouli’s blockbuster ‘RRR’ which has made the globe dancing to its tune has made history at this edition of the Oscars. Also, the Best Documentary Short award was won by ‘The Elephant Whisperers’, a heartwarming film on the deep bond between a pair of elephants and their humans, directed by Kartiki Gonsalves, and produced by Guneet Monga. The 40-minute film is on Netflix, featuring the charming Raghu and Ammu, and Bomman and Bellie. Watch the movie and get right to it: it truly is a testament to, as Gonsalves said, the ‘sacred bond between us and the natural world and respect for indigenous communities.

An award on a stage where the world is watching opens doors not just for the film and its makers, but also the country they represent. Naatu Naatu was the first Indian win in the Best original song category, and Gonsalves the first Indian to win in the short documentary category. 

Also this time Oscars Deepika Padukone became the first-time Oscar presenter. The lights on stage makimade even more luminous. She asked the audience quite rhetorically: do you know ‘Naatu Naatu’, and it played out on stage, it was a moment.

With all these wins, India has shone brightly at Oscars 2023.

The 95th Academy awards were significant for other reasons. It was not just India’s night, but all of Asia, with ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ making a clean sweep of almost every award it was nominated for. Michelle Yeoh as the first Asian Best Actress winner, and only the second person of colour to win that trophy after Halle Berry in 2002 for ‘Monster’s Ball’, spoke of her Oscar as ‘a beacon of hope and possibilities’. The win built on the tremendous 2020 ‘Parasite’ sweep when Bong Joon Ho won the best director, and the film won both the best picture AND the best international feature film. EEAAO won seven, yes count them, Oscars. Vietnam-born Ke Huy Kwan won Best Supporting Actor, Jamie Lee Curtis, who really should have won for her breakout perf in A Fish Called Wanda ( yes, way back in 1988), finally got hers with a Best Supporting Actress, the Daniels won the Best Director: the film also picked up awards for Best Original Screenplay and Editing.

The ‘Everything Everywhere..’ triumph feels like a shift, where people of colour are being seen and celebrated for who they are, and what they bring to the table, even if the film often feels laden with too many nods to Asians-in-America stereotypes. But what a performance from Yeoh, and a well-deserved win: there was no better film to have got this award in this year.