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History was made at this year’s Oscars for India.

“Naatu-Naatu” from the Telugu film RRR won as the best original song and ‘The Elephant Whispers’ got the Oscar award for the best short documentary.

It was the standing ovation given at the 95th Academy Awards on 13th of March 2023 that shook the ground under feet of Indian film industry when MM Keeravani creation and the Rajamouli’s RRR song featuring lyrics by Chandrabose – beat both Lady Gaga’s “Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick,” and Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the entire team of song Naatu Naatu for its Oscar win.

Congratulating the team, PM Modi tweeted, “The popularity of ‘Naatu Naatu’ is global. It will be a song that will be remembered for years to come. Congratulations to @mmkeeravaani, @boselyricist and the entire team for this prestigious honour.”

“Naatu Naatu” was nominated alongside “Applause” from from “Tell It Like a Woman”, ‘Hold My Hand’ from “Top Gun: Maverick”, ‘Lift Me Up’ from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and ‘This Is a Life’ from “Everything Everywhere All at Once”. This is the third major international recognition for the Telugu song after Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award wins.

The Prime Minister also congratulated, the entire team of ‘The Elephant Whisperers’. “Congratulations to @EarthSpectrum @guneetm and the entire team of ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ for this honour. Their work wonderfully highlights the importance of sustainable development and living in harmony with nature,” he tweeted.

Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga’s Netflix documentary short, The Elephant Whispers was competing against Haulout, How Do You Measure a Year?, The Martha Mitchell Effect and Stranger At The Gate.

Director Gonzalves dedicated the award to ‘my motherland, India’. Guneet, in an Instagram post, wrote, “Tonight is historic as this is the first ever Oscar for an Indian production…”

Produced by Achin Jain and Guneet Monga, and directed by Kartiki Gonsalves, the 41-minute short follows the family from Tamil Nadu’s Mudumalai Tiger Reserve who end up adopting two orphan baby elephants.