Indian film fraternity celebrates the double Oscar victory

From Priyanka Chopra Jonas to Alia Bhatt, Hrithik Roshan and Ajay Devgn, celebrities took to social media to congratulate teams 'RRR' and 'The Elephant Whisperers'.

ByShashiprasad S M | Manigandan KR | Arjun Ramachandran

Published Mar 13, 2023 | 3:46 PM ⚊UpdatedMar 13, 2023 | 3:46 PM

The Oscar winners Kartiki Gonsalves (left) and Guneet Monga (right), MM Keeravani and Chandrabose. (Twitter)

The Oscar winners Kartiki Gonsalves (left) and Guneet Monga (right), MM Keeravani and Chandrabose. (Twitter)

With the first-ever Indian film winning an Academy Award in the Best Music category (Original Song) and a second award in the Best Documentary Short Film category, history was created at the 95th Academy Awards on Sunday, 12 March (Monday morning in India).

The Indian film industry swiftly took to various social media platforms congratulating the tremendous achievement of putting India on the global entertainment map, especially the ‘Naatu Naatu’ song which won the award a rage all over the media.

Academy Award-winning composer AR Rahman was among the first to wish the RRR team for the Oscars. He tweeted, “…”Jai ho to both of you and the #RRR team!”

The Indian film fraternity, including celebrities Megastar Chiranjeevi, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Rana Daggubati, Prithviraj, Vijay Devarakonda, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Alia Bhatt, Hrithik Roshan and Ajay Devgn, also took to social media to celebrate the double Oscar win for India — the Telugu blockbuster hit RRR and documentary short The Elephant Whisperers about a tribal couple in Tamil Nadu and their tryst with orphaned baby elephants.

Related: ‘Naatu Naatu’ from RRR wins an Oscar, a first for an Indian song

At the 95th Academy Awards, The Elephant Whisperers — directed by debutante Kartiki Gonsalves and produced by Guneet Monga — became the maiden Indian production to win in the Documentary Short Subject category.

SS Rajamouli’s RRR charted history by becoming the first Indian track to win the Oscar for Best Original Song for “Naatu Naatu“.

alia bhatt rajamouli rrr oscar

Alia Bhatt with SS Rajamouli in a working still from ‘RRR’ which won the Oscar in the Best Original Song category. (aliaa08/Twitter)

“Naatu Naatu” choreographer Prem Rakshith told PTI from Los Angeles that the song’s win is a “huge proud moment for India”.

“We were all sitting together. We shouted like crazy and hugged each other,” he said, describing the euphoric moment when the film’s name was announced.

One of the lead actors from RRR, Jr NTR who attended the Oscar event with his film team and was seen hugging his co-star Ram Charan, in an official statement said, “I cannot find the words to express my elation right now. This is not just a win for RRR but for India as a country. I believe this is just the beginning. Showing us how far Indian cinema can go. Congratulations to Keeravaani garu and Chandrabose garu. Of course, none of this would have been possible without a master storyteller called Rajamouli and the audiences who showered us with all the love.”

Related: ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ wins in the Best Documentary Short category

Priyanka took to her Instagram Stories, giving a huge shoutout to the RRR and The Elephant Whisperers teams. “Yessss team @rrrmovie @mmkeeravani” she wrote alongside a photo from the award ceremony.

priyanka rajamouli keeravani rrr

Priyanka Chopra with SS Rajamouli and MM Keeravani. (priyankachopra/Twitter)

In another post, she congratulated The Elephant Whisperers and its producer Guneet Monga. “ufff what a visual! Historic. Congratulations @guneetmonga and the whole team,” she wrote.

Tamil Superstar Rajinikanth congratulated the RRR team and the makers of The Elephant Whisperers on the prestigious Oscar Award as he saluted the proud Indians for the amazing feat.

Chiranjeevi complemented RRR director SS Rajamouli, music director MM Keeravani, lyricist Chandrabose and others who were involved in making the song.

“NaatuNaatu ON TOP OF THE WORLD !!! And THE OSCAR for the Best Original Song Goes To : Take a Bow .. @mmkeeravaani garu & @boselyricist kaalabhairava7Rahulsipligunj #PremRakshith @tarak9999 @AlwaysRamCharan And the One & Only @ssrajamouli,” he tweeted.

Director Shankar termed it a historic moment and shared his heartfelt wishes with the documentary filmmakers.

Malayalam actor Mammootty shared, “Brimming with pride on seeing the world groove to Naatu Naatu. Heartfelt Congrats to MM Keeravaani & Chandrabose for making the entire country proud.”

Related: RRR wins an Oscar, and Bandi Sanjay Kumar is trolled

Filmmaker Karan Johar called the Oscar win of RRR “historic”. “Historic!!!! OMG!!!!!!! I was jumping on my bed !!!!! So so so proud! @m. m. keeravani sir @ssrajamouli sir @jrntr @alwaysramcharan” he wrote on Instagram Stories.

The director said he is proud of the team of The Elephant Whisperers for creating history at the Academy Awards.

“Guneet!!!! @guneetmonga you did it!!!!! So so so proud of you!!!! You created history! Broke the glass ceiling and more than anything else paved the way…applause, Respect and many a salute to you” he posted.

Ajay Devgn, who also made a guest appearance in RRR, called the two trophies for Indian films a “proud moment”.

“As it is often said, cinema speaks a universal language. Congratulations to the teams of #RRR and #TheElephantWhisperers for their #Oscar wins. It’s a proud moment,” he tweeted.

Hrithik wrote, “Such a historic, proud & happy moment for Indian Cinema at #Oscars95 ! Many congratulations to the team of Best Documentary Short Film #TheElephantWhisperers & Team RRR for Best Original Song #NaatuNaatu !! More power to you all.”

“Wonderful!!! Congratulations to all of you #ElephantWhisperers” tweeted actor Kangana Ranaut.

The actor also praised RRR for making India proud. “Congratulations to entire India, RRR, a movie about suppression, torture, killing, colonisation of Indians based on racial grounds gets appreciated on a world platform, number of Indians died just during one Bengal famine were way more than Jews died during holocaust. Thank team RRR” she added.

Singer Anup Jalota said the song has become famous the world over. Congratulations to MM Kreem, the director and the team for beautifully picturising the song, he added.

Sound designer Resul Pookutty, who won an Oscar for Best Sound Mixing for 2008 movie “Slumdog Millionaire”, also congratulated the teams of RRR and The Elephant Whisperers.

“This is a huge win congratulations to @mmkeeravaani and the team of #RRR” he said.

“Huge huge congratulations to @guneetm and the team of #elephantwhispers for their #Oscar win @TheAcademy You all created history. Guneet #IToldYouSo” he added.

Samantha Ruth Prabhu wrote on Instagram, “What an incredible moment… It’s an Oscar baby”

Actor Rana Daggubati shared a video of the moment MM Keeravani and lyricist Chandrabose won the Oscar and wrote, “The roar of #RRR”

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.

From the moment “Naatu Naatu” won the best original song award at 95th Oscars, social media is abuzz with countless posts about “RRR” and videos from the award ceremony.

Many shared the clips of the electrifying performance of the Telugu track “Naatu Naatu” by singers Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava from the ceremony, held at the Dolby Theatre and live-streamed on Disney+ Hotstar in India.

Others shared various videos of the team of RRR, including filmmaker SS Rajamouli, Ram Charan and Jr NTR, erupting with joy after “Naatu Naatu” was announced as the winner for best original song.

Related: I don’t know about Oscars, but I am happy, says Belli

The ceremony’s host Jimmy Kimmel, however, attracted criticism from some fans for calling RRR a “Bollywood movie” during his opening monologue.

Reacting to Kimmel’s faux pas, a user tweeted, “India has different film industries for different languages…bollywood means hindi language film industry…since hindi is the most spoken language in india bollywood is more popular..’rrr’ is a telugu language film from south part of india”.

Another user said, “Dear #Oscars95 Team, #RRR is not a #Bollywood movie. Please note.”

Actor-turned-politician and Jana Sena Party founder Pawan Kalyan said the award has made Indians proud.

The Oscar award and other international recognition to ‘RRR’ would inspire Indian directors, actors and writers, he said.

Actor Vijay Devarakonda said it’s another big step for India, Indian cinema as he congratulated the team of The Elephant Whisperers which won Best Documentary Short Film.

Hombale films of the fame of KGF and Kantara took to Twitter to congratulate the phenomenal achievement.

“Proud moment for Indian cinema and a testament to the immense talent and creativity of our industry. Congratulations to the entire team of RRR Movie for their incredible efforts in bringing this masterpiece to life. A deserved standing ovation at TheAcademy,” Hombale tweeted, and also congratulated The Elephant Whisperers

Real star Upendra too took to his social media handle, congratulating the RRR team.

Actress Rashmika Mandanna, shared on her Twitter saying, “What a proud moment. Congratulations to The Elephant Whisperers team. Example for – Dream big!”

Actor Prakash Raj congratulated the makers of The Elephant Whisperers, “You Rockstars. Thank you for the journey you have taken. Proud of you.”

Actor Karthi: “Many many congratulations RRR Thank you for winning this recognition for India and its musicians.”

Kamal Haasan’s production house Raajkamal Films International Congratulated the RRR Movie team on the Oscar win! “Frontiers have been breached, you have once again proven that our talent and stories are truly global. Thank you! Indian talent will continue to dominate the world stage.”

Malayalam actor Prithviraj said, “Landmark achievement! Big congratulations to MM Keeravaani Sir, SS Rajamouli sir, and the entire team of RRR Movie!”

He also congratulated The Elephant Whisperers team in another tweet.

Renowned playback singer KS Chitra said it’s a moment of great pride for our nation. “God bless you Chandrabose garu, Rajamouli sir, and the entire team of RRR Movie.

(With PTI inputs)

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