Two Oscar-winning Indian films on a historic night for Asian productions.
India is
"overjoyed and proud",
says Narendra Modi, the country's prime minister.
Indian film
RRR 's
Naatu Naatu
won the Oscar for Best Original Song and
The Elephant Whisperers
won for Best Documentary Short.
The brash
Naatu Naatu
(
“Dance, Dance”
) from the high-octane action flick, was the competition favorite.
He had already won the Golden Globe for best song in January.
“ Naatu Naatu
's popularity
is worldwide.
It will be a song that will be remembered for years”
, declared the Prime Minister on Twitter, congratulating the whole team
“for this prestigious honor”
.
First Oscar for an Indian song
The song is the first from an Indian production to win an Oscar.
Among the nominees in this category were
Lady Gaga's
Hold My Hand for
Top Gun: Maverick
and Rihanna's
Lift Me Up
for
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
.
According to SS Rajamouli, director of
RRR ,
Naatu Naatu
's frantic sequence
was shot outside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's official residence in 2021, before Russia invaded his country.
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Produced last March by South India's Telugu-language film industry, the film has met with huge word-of-mouth success, both in India and abroad where viewers have not resisted. to start dancing in the aisles of cinemas.
Favorite of the competition and the first Indian song to ever win an Oscar,
Naatu Naatu
had already been awarded a Golden Globe in January.
RRR
tells the story of two colonial-era revolutionaries and echoes Hindu mythology, providing action scenes galore.
A “historic”
evening
for India
Narendra Modi also praised director Kartiki Gonsalves and producer Guneet Monga for their documentary
The Elephant Whisperers
, which is set in Mudumalai National Park in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
“Their work wonderfully highlights the importance of sustainable development and living in harmony with nature
,” said the Prime Minister on Twitter.
The film tells the story of an orphan baby elephant, Raghu, entrusted to Bomman and Bellie, an indigenous couple, celebrating the bond that develops between them, along with the beauty of nature.
"Tonight is historic because it's the first Oscar for an Indian production
," rejoiced Guneet Monga, one of the film's producers, on her Twitter account.
