It could be a very important day in India as far as nominations for the 95th Academy Awards are concerned, which will be announced later. Fourth in the list of Indian films with a chance at the Oscars is the official legacy of The Chhello Show, the full documentary Breathing and The Elephant Whisperers, and RRR. The first three films are contenders for Best International Feature Film, Best Documentary Feature, and Best Documentary Short at the Oscars. The real excitement, however, may come from RRR, which has attracted worldwide attention.
The announcement of Chhello Show, or Last Picture Show, directed by Pan Nalin, will be India’s official entry for Best International Feature on RRR shocked and disappointed many fans of the movie. However, the film ran its own independent Oscar campaign and put itself forward for awards in several categories. RRR may have inserted itself into as many of these groups as possible, though not publicly.
RRR is currently a contender for at least one nomination, Best Original Song for Naatu Naatu, which won at the Golden Globes. The top ten lists have been released. Out of a long list of 81 songs, 15 will be selected. Naatu Naatu is joined by four songs that won at the Golden Globes: Ciao Papa from Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Carolina from Where The Crawdads Sing by Taylor Swift, Lift Me Up by Rihanna from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever by Rihanna, and Hold Hand Mine by Lady Gaga from Top Gun: Maverick by Lady Gaga. It’s unclear whether RRR entered itself into any of the Best Songs or Most Visual categories, but it didn’t make the lists that were made publicly available. Best Film Editing and Best Cinematography are two additional technical categories in which to be nominated; Shortlists for these are not disclosed, so RRR is not allowed.
The Oscar nominees will be announced by actors Riz Ahmed and Alison Williams. Jimmy Kimmel will host the event, which will take place on March 12.
