hindi language bollywood cinema, it s a movie in telugu, from tollywood, in south india. and the oscars endorsement, on top of the film s box office success, is giving hollywood a bit of a wake up call, showing there are other ways of bringing audiences film fantasy. there s something about rrr that s appealing to people that goes beyond the parameters of south asian cinema and allows it to just feel like universal escapism. and also, i think a lot of audiences are starved of good escapism. we have so many marvel movies, we have so many star wars movies, and that sort of storytelling has started to feel kind of redundant. this is an original, big spectacle, and it s just really exciting to see that in a movie theatre setting. india s other oscar night victory was for the elephant whisperers, a story set in a rescue camp for orphaned elephants, which won for best documentary short. and india was also nominated
india went into the ceremony with three nominations, and it won two trophies, and that was a real shot in the arm for indian cinema. naatu naatu, an exuberant musical number from the telugu language epic action drama rrr winning for best original song was a sweet victory for india, bringing forth jubilation in hollywood and india. the movie, one of the most expensive indian films ever made, has become a huge international hit, grossing around $160 million worldwide. its director, ss rajamouli, was a very happy man. i make movies for indians in india and across the globe, but the kind of reception it had in america, or in the western world, is something that that has never been achieved by any other indian film, ever. rrr isn t mumbai centred,
having said that, i don t want to have a kind of simple minded, euphoric optimism about this moment. we re still completely bogged down by a tonne of problems of infrastructure and dissemination and so on. so, i mean, i m cautiously and very guardedly optimistic. india s first foreign language film oscar nomination came in 1958, with mother india, a story of a woman trying to raise her sons amid poverty. since then, india, which boasts the world s most prolific movie industry, has only secured two other foreign language film nominations. part of the reason why india has been passed over is because of the inward looking nature of the academy, which may now be changing. rrr and the elephant whisperers victories could mark a turning point, the beginning, perhaps, of a new era in which indian cinema is more enthusiastically celebrated at the academy awards.
from delhi s smog polluted skies. in a way, it s an ecological, sociopolitical and a kind of emotional story around delhi, through the relationship of two brothers, these two muslim men, and this one particular bird of prey, this raptor called the black kite. and through it, we unravel these kinds of different currents of the city ecologically, sociopolitically and emotionally. all that breathes director shaunak sen thinks that india s documentaries getting oscars recognition by way of a trophy or a nomination shows the country s nonfiction film movement is really developing. i think it s undeniable that there is a moment right now where indian docs, especially in the last few years, have done very well. film makers have gone and really learned the ropes in terms of how to work the industry, how to secure the resources, and in terms of film grammar. having said that, i don t want to have a kind of simple minded, euphoric optimism about this moment. we re still completely bogged down by
beyond the parameters of south asian cinema and allows it to just feel like universal escapism. and also, i think a lot of audiences are starved of good escapism. we have so many marvel movies, we have so many star wars movies, and that sort of storytelling has started to feel kind of redundant. this is an original, big spectacle, and it s just really exciting to see that in a movie theatre setting. india s other oscar night victory was for the elephant whisperers, a story set in a rescue camp for orphaned elephants, which won for best socumentary short. and india was also nominated for its feature length documentary all that breathes, the story of two brothers who care for black kite birds, which drop every day from delhi s smog polluted skies. in a way, it s an ecological, sociopolitical and a kind of emotional story around delhi, through the relationship of two