The Song ‘Naatu Naatu’ from India’s blockbuster film RRR and two documentaries from the country — ‘All That Breathes’ and ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ — have made it to the final nominations list at the 95th edition of the Academy Awards. Nominations in all 23 categories were announced in a global livestream today by Hollywood actors Riz Ahmed and Allison Williams hosted the announcement from the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater at Beverly Hills in California.
The Academy Awards ceremony will be held 13th of March at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles with American TV host and comedian Jimmy Kimmel as the host. In a historic and jovial moment for Indian cinema, the Naatu Naatu song from SS Rajamouli’s period-action movie, RRR bagged an Oscar nomination in the category of Best Original song. Earlier, the song won a Golden Globe award in the same category.
Indian climate change documentary ‘All That Breathes’ got an Oscar nod in the Best Documentary Feature Film segment. Set in Delhi, the Shaunak Sen directorial follows two siblings, who have devoted their lives to rescuing and treating injured birds, especially black kites.
‘All That Breathes’ is also nominated for a BAFTA Award. It previously won the ‘World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary’ at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, a film gala that promotes independent cinema and filmmakers, and earned the Golden Eye award for the best documentary at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.
Indian documentary short film The Elephant Whisperers has also scored a nomination in the category of Best Documentary Short Film. Directed by Kartiki Gonsalves and produced by Guneet Monga, The Elephant Whisperers’ depicts an unbreakable bond between two abandoned elephants and their caretakers. However, India’s official entry Chhello Show (Last Film Show), Gujarati language coming-of-age drama did not score a nomination in the Best International Feature category at the 95th Academy Awards. The Oscars will take place on March 12. The nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress have always been the centre of attention.