Journalist-filmmaker Sushil Rao's documentary on lyricist Chandrabose won the Best Documentary Short Award at the Cannes Film Festival.
Published Dec 28, 2023 | 5:27 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 28, 2023 | 5:36 PM
Journo-filmmaker Ch Sushil Rao's documentary 'Oscar Challagariga' got award at the Cannes Film Festival. (Facebook)
The Indian documentary Oscar Challagariga on the life of Oscar-winning lyricist Subhash Chandrabose secured the Best Documentary Short Award at the Cannes World Film Festival in France on Wednesday, 27 December.
Senior Journalist Chilkuri Sushil Kumar Rao, based out of Hyderabad, directed and produced the short documentary.
The idea behind making a short documentary of 17 minutes on Chandrabose sprouted when the lyricist received the prestigious Oscars for the song “Naatu Naatu” from RRR (2022) a few months ago this year.
An alumnus of the University of London, journalist Sushil Rao recalled, “While singer MM Keeravani spoke for a few minutes, all that Chandrabose got was just a second to utter one-word ‘Namaste‘, and he immediately got down from the stage.”
Chandrabose with MM Keeravani on the Oscars stage. (X)
“That was the only Telugu word he spoke on the world’s stage when the Telugu song ‘Naatu Naatu‘ won international acclaim at the Oscars ceremony. That was the time I felt that has to be taken slightly more forward,” Rao told South First.
There have been several things that even remotely connected to “Naatu Naatu” or RRR kept trending on social media, but there was little for international audiences to know about lyricist Chandrabose.
“There is no stage that is bigger than the Oscars, and I felt the necessity to tell what Chandrabose is to the international audience. Probably, he would give an interview to the vernacular press. A few from India might know him but the international audience doesn’t know anything about him. The international stage was the only opportunity that he could make his presence felt, but he uttered only the one-word ‘Namaste‘,” Sushil Rao added.
Lyricist Chandrabose achieved the prestigious Oscar Award for Best Original Song during the Academy Awards held in Hollywood, Los Angeles, US, on 12 March 2023.
He and music director MM Keeravani were honoured with the award for the song “Naatu Naatu” from the film RRR directed by SS Rajamouli.
Upon Chandrabose’s visit to his village on 2 April with the Oscar Award, the entire village burst into joy. Family, friends, relatives, and well-wishers joined in the celebrations with dancing and merriment.
Upon Chandrabose’s return from Oscars, Sushil happened to visit his village to capture the mood of Chandrabiose’s people and family in his native village of Challagariga, the interiors of Bhupalpally district.
Recollecting the events of the day, Rao said, “When the entire village came to receive him and took him out in a procession, it was like a celebration of sorts. People erupted in joy. And Chandrabose spoke to them about the ceremony.”
He added, “It was so inspiring for the people because a man hailing from a tiny village in Telangana bagging an Oscar is an inspiration. Isn’t it? We covered all the moments on our camera for six to seven hours in the village.”
Team ‘RRR’ with the Oscar. (X)
Sushil Rao, who pursued Film Studies at IIT Madras during his formative years, said he made it a deliberate point not to speak to Chandrabose all through the day because it would invariably become media coverage.
“We aimed to just capture the mood of the villagers. His wife, who happened to be a renowned choreographer, danced along with her people. All we wanted was to capture exactly what was happening in the village, how people were reacting to Chandrabose, and how he was reacting to them. The way they were receiving it,” the filmmaker-journalist said.
“It was like a celebration in the end. I felt a film like RRR receiving Oscars is pride. Of course, “Jai Ho” for the Oscars, but it was not an Indian production. This is the first time in 95 years of Oscars, that a completely Indian production got the award,” he added.
The Telugu documentary Oscar Challagariga was adjudged the Best Documentary Short at the Cannes World Film Festival in France.
The short documentary directed by Sushil Rao from India emerged winner among the nominees, including two from the United States.
Post-announcement, Chandrabose said, “I am elated to know that the documentary Oscar Challagariga about me winning an Oscar and how my village Challagariga celebrated has received applause and attention.”
