New Delhi| With “Naatu Naatu", the hit dance track from "RRR", “All That Breathes”and “The Elephant Whisperers”up for an Oscar, the 95th Academy Awards could well be India's moment to shine at perhaps the most glittering of all showbiz stages.
The Oscar ceremony will be held early Monday morning (India time) at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
While "Naatu Naatu" has been shortlisted for Original Song, "All That Breathes" is in the running for Documentary Feature and "The Elephant Whisperers" for Documentary Short, the first time that India-made productions have earned so many nominations.
Fans hope the buzz translates into an Oscar, but India will make its presence felt on stage nonetheless. “Naatu Naatu”composer MM Keeravani and singers Rahul Sipligunj-Kaala Bhairava will be on stage for a live performance of the song in true Academy tradition of giving a platform to all five Original Song nominees.
Besides, actor Deepika Padukone will present an award at the star-spangled ceremony, which has tried to be more inclusive over the years following controversies of being #toowhite.
Last year, Indian feature documentary “Writing With Fire”was part of the final Oscars nominations list in the Documentary Feature section but lost out to “Summer of Soul (Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)”. It was the first Indian feature documentary to be nominated for an Academy Award.
Earlier, two entries set in India - "Smile Pinki" and "Period. End Of Sentence", won Oscars for Documentary Short. Monga was the executive produce for “Period”.
The Academy has invited voting members from film communities around the globe, including a number of talented cinema artistes from India. More than 9,000 member s have cast their votes for the Oscars.
The attempts at diversity seem to be yielding results as this year's frontrunner is Michelle Yeoh-starrer multiverse drama “Everything Everywhere All At Once”, a film that may turn out to be the big winner and a step forward in Asian representation at the mega film awards.
India has never won an Oscar in the International Film category or the Best Foreign Film as it was known earlier.
The last Indian film that made it to the final five nominees at the Oscars was Ashutosh Gowariker's "Lagaan", which lost to “No Man's Land”in 2001. "Mother India" and "Salaam Bombay" are the only other two Indian films to have made it to the top five besides Deepa Mehta's "Water", which was a Canadian entry.
Bhanu Athaiya was the first Indian to win the Oscars after she was conferred the Academy Award for Best Costume Design in Richard Attenborough's “Gandhi”, which bagged eight trophies in 1983.
Directing legend Satyajit Ray was conferred an honorary Oscar in 1992, just a month before his death.
But what makes this year's award ceremony unique is that unlike previous award seasons where foreign films with an India connection helped the country find brief moments of spotlight, the glory this year is completely made in India.
Filmmaker Siddharth Roy Kapur, who backed “Chhello Show”(‘Last Film Show') India's official entry to the Oscars this year, is hopeful the next decade will belong to India. Though the film did not make the cut in the final five, he said there were learnings aplenty on how to run an Oscars campaign.PTI
