Of the 9 Indian entries, only ‘RRR’, 2 documentaries get Oscar nominations

The remainder — including Gangubai Kathiawadi, The Kashmir Files, Kantara, Me Vasantrao, Tujhya Sathi Kahi Hi, Rocketry: The Nambi Effect, Iravin Nizhal, Vikrant Rona, and Chhello Show did not make the cut.

India at the Oscars

To date, only three Indian films have been nominated in the Best International Feature Film category: Mother India, Salaam Bombay, and Lagaan.

Notable nominations:

• Sitar maestro Ravi Shankar was nominated in the Best Original Score category for the film Gandhi.
• The House That Ananda Built was nominated in 1968 in the Best Documentary Short categotry.
• Directed by the celebrated Vidhu Vinod Chopra, An Encounter was nominated for the Best Documentary Short.
• AR Rahman was nominated in the Best Original Score category for the film 127 Hours.
• Little Terrorist, a 2004 Indian short film directed by Ashvin Kumar, was nominated for Best Documentary Short.
• Directed by Sushmit Ghosh and Rintu Thomas, Writing with Fire was nominated for Best Documentary Feature.
• White Tiger was in 2021 nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay.

The winners:

• Bhanu Athaiya was the first Indian to win an Oscar — for Best Costume Design for the film Gandhi. (Incidentally, Ben Kingsley, who won Best Actor for the same film, was of Indian origin; his birth name was Krishna Pandit Bhanji. Meanwhile, Athaiya also designed the costume for the Oscar-nominated Lagaan.)
• Satyajit Ray was awarded an Honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement in 1992.
• AR Rahman won two Oscars — one for the original score and another for the song Jai Ho from the film Slumdog Millionaire.
• Resul Pookutty won an Oscar for Best Sound Mixing for Slumdog Millionaire.
• Period. End of a Sentence. won an award in 2019 in the Best Documentary (Short Subject) category.