Oscars 2023: India’s ‘The Elephant Whisperers' Wins Short Docu Award; 'Naatu Naatu' Wins Best Original Song

Los Angeles: Tamil documentary “The Elephant Whisperers” created history at the 95th Academy Awards by becoming the maiden Indian production to win in the Documentary Short Subject category.

Directed by debutante Kartiki Gonsalves, the Netflix documentary bested “Haulout”, “How Do You Measure a Year?”, “The Martha Mitchell Effect” and “Stranger at the Gate” to scoop the trophy.

"I stand here today to speak for the sacred bond between us and our natural world, for the respect of indigenous communities, and empathy towards other living beings we share space with and finally, for coexistence," Gonsalves said in her acceptance speech.

The director went on to thank the Academy, producer Guneet Monga, her family and dedicated the win to her "motherland India".

"Thank you to the Academy for recognising our film, highlighting indigenous people and animals.. To Netflix for believing in the power of this... To Bomman and Belli for sharing their sacred tribal wisdom to Guneet, my producer...

"My mentor and my entire team and finally, to my mother, father and sister who are up there somewhere and you are the centre of my universe, to my motherland India," she added.

“The Elephant Whisperers", in its 39-minute runtime, depicts an unbreakable bond between two abandoned elephant calves Raghu and Amu and their caretakers, Bomman and Belli. It is produced by Monga and Achin Jain of Sikhya Entertainment.

Monga didn't say anything on stage but struck an exultant pose lifting the coveted golden statuette high up in the air.

Moments later in an Instagram post, she described the Tamil documentary's win as a moment of glory for India with "two women".

Earlier, two India-set titles backed by foreign productions - "Smile Pinki" and "Period. End Of Sentence", won Oscars in the Documentary Short category. Monga was the executive producer on 2018's “Period”.

'Naatu Naatu' From 'RRR' Creates Oscar History

 “Naatu Naatu”, the peppy, foot-tapping chartbuster from SS Rajamouli's Telugu period action film "RRR", waltzed its way to history by becoming the first Indian track to win the Academy Award in the Best Original Song category.

 “Naatu Naatu”, "Naacho Naacho" in Hindi, is composed by MM Keeravaani and penned by Chandrabose.

 “I grew up listening to The Carpenters and now here I am with the Oscars. There was only one wish on my mind, so was Rajamouli's and our families’ -- 'RRR' has to win… Pride of every Indian… must put me on the top of the world," Keeravani said in tune to The Carpenters’ much loved 1970s song “Top of the World”.

Chandrabose simply signed off with a “Namaste” at the 95th Academy Awards here on Sunday night.

 “Naatu Naatu” was nominated alongside “Applause” from 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”.

This is the third major international recognition for the Telugu song after Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award wins.    

"RRR" (Rise Roar Revolt), a pre-independence fictional story, follows two real-life Indian revolutionaries – Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan) and Komaram Bheem (Jr NTR) – in the 1920s.

 “Jai Ho” from the 2008 British film “Slumdog Millionaire”, directed by Danny Boyle, was the first Hindi song to win an Academy Award in the Best Original Score and Original Song categories. It was composed by AR Rahman and penned by Gulzar.

 “Whatever wins up there, an Indian thing, is going to raise the profile of India. I love that song,” Rahman told PTI ahead of Oscar 2023.