Oscars 2023: All about India’s Academy Award nominees

India is competing in three different categories at Oscars 2023. The nominations include RRR’s track Naatu Naatu in the Best Original Song category, All That Breathes for the Best Documentary Feature and The Elephant Whisperers for Best Documentary Short.

Ahead of the 95th Academy Awards, here’s everything you need to know about India’s nominees.

Naatu Naatu from RRR 

RRR track Naatu Naatu has already won a HCA Award, a Critics Choice Award and a Golden Globe. Composed by MM Keeravaani, Naatu Naatu is sung by Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava, who will also be performing the song at the Oscars stage. 

Naatu Naatu is competing with tracks sung by American pop stars like Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga and Rihanna in the best Original Song category. The nominees are Applause from Tell IT Like A Woman, Hold My Hand from Top Gun: Maverick, This is Life from Everything Everywhere All At Once and Lift Me Up from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

All That Breathes

Directed by Shaunak Sen, All That Breathes follows the lives of two brothers who have devoted their lives to rescuing and treating injured birds, especially the black kite. The documentary shows the journey of the two brothers as they struggle to care for the birds along with other tiny creatures in the backdrop of Delhi’s smog-choked skies. 

The masterpiece by Sen has won top awards in several international film festivals including Sundance and the Cannes. It is now competing with Laura Poitras’s All The Beauty And The Bloodshed, Sara Dosa’s Fire of Love, Simon Lereng Wilmont’s A House Made of Splinters and Daniel Roher’s Navalny at the Oscars in the Best Documentary Feature category.

The Elephant Whisperers

Helmed by Kartiki Gonsalves, The Elephant Whisperers is about a family in Tamil Nadu’s Mudumalai Tiger Reserve and how they adopt a baby elephant named Raghu and forge a strong bond. It is produced by Achin Jain and Guneet Monga. 

The documentary short film is now competing with Haulout, How do you measure a year?, The Martha Mitchell Effect and Stranger At The Gate in the Best Documentary Short.