What Indian Representation at the Oscars This Year Tells Us About Our Country’s Cinema
From Telugu action blockbuster ‘RRR’ and its celebratory “Naatu Naatu” to evocative documentaries like ‘All That Breathes’ and ‘The Elephant Whisperers,’ Indian cinema has been seen in a new light in the U.S.
(Clockwise from top left) 'RRR,' 'The Elephant Whisperers' and 'All That Breathes' are nominated at the 95th Academy Awards this year.
Earlier this year, when RRR began getting rave reviews from American and international film critics alike – including Rolling Stone US – it was a sign that there was an influential global campaign underway, but few in India expected it to breach barriers and catapult into awards season.
After all, to Indians, it was in many ways an over-the-top action film, even if it did narrate a story of spirited revolutionaries in British colonial era India. That was because it had songs, dance and incredulous action sequences that only someone like director S.S. Rajamouli could helm, given his past success with epic action flicks Baahubali and Baahubali 2. Yet, this is grandiose production is exactly what critics in the West seemed to have loved. More so, they loved “Naatu Naatu,” the composition by M.M. Keeravani which, to Indians at least – was a deft fusion of folk beats and electronic music that we’d been hearing for quite some time in film soundtracks.
With the nomination of RRR song “Naatu Naatu” and the documentaries All That Breathes and The Elephant Whisperers at the 95th Academy Awards, this is the most number of nominations Indian filmmakers have received in a single year.
While RRR missed out on its much-anticipated nomination for Best International Feature Film, it’s India’s current-day realities shown in All That Breathes and The Elephant Whisperers (both centered around environmental, urban, rural and animal welfare concerns) that have earned nominations for Best Documentary Feature Film and Best Documentary Short Subject, respectively.
There’s a lot of canvassing and influence that undoubtedly goes into how a film eventually gets an Oscar nomination, but the Indian film industry’s jostling and reverence for even a place on the Academy Awards shortlist is overhyped and pure PR fuel. It might hold a certain level of validation, but we can look beyond it.
All That Breathes, directed by Shaunak Sen, had producers attached to the project with Emmy-winning and Oscar-winning films in their credits, so this might be one indication of the documentary’s prospects to gain a nod at the Academy Awards. And deservedly so, because it tells a story of two brothers Nadeem Shehzad and Mohammad Saud and Salik Rehman, a volunteer from the organization Wildlife Rescue as they rescue and treat black kites in the backdrop of New Delhi’s notorious pollution levels.
With a runtime of 39 minutes, The Elephant Whisperers is directed by Kartiki Gonsalves and certainly has a lot more cuter moments. Gonsalves followed the couple Bomman and Belli as they formed a bond with orphaned baby elephant named Raghu. Praised for its cinematography, the documentary short is streaming on Netflix, something that All That Breathes is yet to do, even as it premieres at theaters across the U.S. at the moment.
India’s film industry has tried to push into several global spaces—we were a “country of honor” at the business side of the Cannes Film Festival in 2022—but the American-instituted Academy Awards remain coveted for Indian filmmakers. With more languages getting representation from India, beyond Bollywood and acclaim from critics not far behind, it’s anyone’s guess what is next but it’s important to keep expectations tempered. The next Oscars might have even bigger push for Indian cinema, but it may not result in as many nominations, which wouldn’t really reflect badly on Indian cinema. There are plenty of stories to go around, across languages, styles and even budgets.
