The 95th Academy Awards, held this Sunday night in Los Angeles, were the best ever for the Indian film industry. Three Indian films were nominated in various categories, of which two ended up winning. These are the first two Oscars won by Indian films ever. However, India’s official entry for the awards – Chhello Show – did not secure the final nomination, like many other Indian films before it. In a recent chat, musician AR Rahman spoke about the reasons behind this.
Rahman is an Oscar winner himself, having won the Best Original Song and Best Original Score for Slumdog Millionaire in 2009 and securing nominations in the same category two years later for 127 Hours. In a chat with musician L Subramaniam, the composer said, “Sometimes, I see that our movies go till the Oscars, (but) they don't get it. Wrong movies are being sent for the Oscars. And I I am like, don't. We have to be in another person's shoes. I have to be in Westerner's shoes to see what's happening here. I have to see what they to be in my shoes to see what they are doing (sic).”
Two Indian films won the Oscar this year. SS Rajamouli’s Telugu blockbuster RRR won the Best Original Song for its track Naatu Naatu while Kartiki Gonsalves’ documentary The Elephant Whisperers won the Best Documentary Short Subject award. Another Indian film – Shaunak Sen’s All That Breathes – was also nominated in the Best Documentary Feature category.
However, Gujarati film Chhello Show, which had been selected as India’s official entry to the Oscars by the Film Federation of India, missed out on the final nominations. There had been some controversy when Chhello Show had been selected by FFI with many feeling that RRR had a better shot at winning given its widespread popularity in the West.
Since 1957, India has sent 55 films as official entries to the Oscars but only three of them – Mother India (1957), Salaam Bombay (1988), and Lagaan (2001) – have secured nominations.
