Pan Nalin's Gujarati film Chello Show aka Last Film Show was picked as India's official entry to the Academy Awards 2023 instead of SS Rajamouli's period-action blockbuster RRR featuring Jr NTR and Ram Charan, which had created a huge buzz in the West since its streaming release on Netflix. This major announcement came in as a shock for the cine-goers and movie critics not just in India, but in America too who had already picked RRR as their choice to win the Oscar statuette for the Best International Feature Film next year.
However, RRR still has a major chance to win Oscars in multiple categories. Variance Films, the US distributor has decided to launch a full campaign for SS Rajamouli's magnum opus, calling on the 10,000 members of the Academy to consider voting for the Telugu-language film in all categories.
Talking to Variety about RRR's chances at the Oscars 2023, Variance Films president Dylan Marchetti said, "Over the last six months, we have seen the joy that S.S. Rajamouli’s ‘RRR’ has brought to global audiences. We have seen the film gross over $140 million worldwide to become one of India’s highest-grossing films of all time and become the first film in history to trend globally on Netflix for over 14 weeks."
"We have seen the film fill up theatres with cheering audiences months after its initial release, including the historic TCL Chinese IMAX theatre in Hollywood, where it will play next Friday to an audience that sold out of one of the largest theatres in the country in just 15 minutes. Most importantly, we have heard fans from around the world tell us that they believe this is one of the best films of the year from any nation. We agree. We proudly invite the Academy to consider RRR in all categories", Dylan added.
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According to the report, RRR will be submitted in the following categories: Best Picture, Director (S.S. Rajamouli), Original Screenplay (Rajamouli and V. Vijayendra Prasad), Lead Actor (for both Jr NTR and Ram Charan), Supporting Actor (Ajay Devgn), Supporting Actress (Alia Bhatt), Original Song (Naatu Naatu), Original Score (M.M. Keeravaani), Cinematography, Production Design, Film Editing, Costume Design, Makeup and Hairstyling, and Sound and Visual Effects.
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