This year, Oscars fever is at a crescendo like never before. And there’s only one reason for it – RRR and its peppy number ‘Naatu Naatu’, which is in the running for Best Original Song at the 95th Academy Awards. ‘Naatu Naatu’ is not just nominated in the Best Original Song category, it is also the favourite to win the award this year.
Two other Indian films are also hot favourites at the Oscars 2023. ‘All That Breathes’ is in the running for Best Documentary Feature, and ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ is gunning for the Documentary Short Subject at the Oscars this year.
Thus, in all, three Indian films are in the running at the Oscars 2023 to take home the coveted trophy. Only a paltry five other films from India have made it to the Oscars nominations in all the 95 years that the Oscars have been held. This, when we are officially the world’s largest film-producing country.
Yes, only a total of eight Indian films have ever been nominated at the Oscars in various categories. Four out of those are documentary features, which is half of the measly number. Says a lot about the quality of films that we as a nation keep churning out year after year.
Here are all 8 Oscar nominated films from India, ranked as per IMDb –
8. All That Breathes – 7
Shaunak Sen’s heart-warming documentary film ‘All That Breathes’ centres on the endeavour of two Muslim brothers in Delhi, who have made it their life’s mission to save hundreds of birds of Delhi’s most beloved bird species, the black kite, from dropping dead due to Delhi’s debilitating smog and pollution. The film has won top prizes at Cannes, Sundance, and is top contender at Oscars 2023. But on IMDb ratings, it is at a lowly ‘8’.
7. Writing with Fire – 7.3
Directed by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh, ‘Writing With Fire’ centres on a group of feisty women, who run India’s only newspaper by Dalit women, ‘Khabar Lahariya’. Led by Chief Reporter Meera, these women journalists report from some of the most difficult regions of the country, risking everything to speak truth to power.
6. The Elephant Whisperers – 7.3
‘The Elephant Whisperers’ is a short Netflix documentary, and is nominated in the Documentary Short Subject category at the Oscars 2023. The feature follows Bomman and Bellie, an old couple in South India, who have devoted their lives to caring for an orphaned baby elephant named Raghu, forging a family like no other.
5. Period. End of Sentence. – 7.4
‘Period. End Of Sentence’ was not only nominated for, but also won the Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject at the 91st Academy Awards. The documentary film centres on a group of local women in Hapur, India, who learn how to machine-make low-cost, biodegradable sanitary pads, thus spearheading a revolution to fight the Indian stigma surrounding menstruation.
4. Mother India – 7.8
‘Mother India’ was the first ever Indian film to get nominated at the Oscars, back in 1958. Interestingly, the film came close to winning the Academy Award but lost to Federico Fellini’s Nights of Cabiria by a single vote.[The Nargis Dutt starrer film, directed by Mehboob Khan, is a pathos-filled movie that centres on a poor woman who stands by her integrity in the face of insurmountable hurdles. It also focuses on the issue of exploitation of the poor by greedy moneylenders.
3. Salaam Bombay! – 7.9
Written and directed by Mira Nair, and co-written by Sooni Taraporevala, Salaam Bombay! is a sublime look at the plight of children living and growing up in Mumbai’s (called Bombay in 1988) notorious slums.
2. RRR – 7.9
RRR is S.S.Rajamouli’s cinematic extravaganza, which centres on two real-life Indian freedom fighters, Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem. The period drama recounts an imagined coming together of the two revolutionaries, both of whom had never met in real life.
1. Lagaan – 8.1
The top-ranked Indian Oscar-nominated film is none other than ‘Lagaan’, Ashutosh Gowariker’s masterpiece. The Aamir Khan led film centres on a fictitious cricket match between an Indian team of greenhorns, and an experienced English team. The stakes in the cricket match make it a do-or-die match for the indian rookies.
There are several other films with Indian names that made a splash at the Oscars, most significantly Gandhi and Slumdog Millionaire. Both films brought the coveted Oscar Awards for several Indian names like A R Rahman, Resul Pookutty and Bhanu Athaiya. But they were essentially foreign productions and not Indian.
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