Father-son duo share Oscar glory: Naatu Naatu

The song Naatu Naatu found two mentions at the glittering Academy Awards ceremony at Los Angeles, first as it was presented live on stage at Dolby Auditorium by popular singer Kaala Bhairava, and then as Kaala Bhairava’s father and musician extraordinaire MM Keeravani ascended the stage to receive the prized gong.

It was an unusual acceptance speech that got him several rounds of applause.

"I grew up listening to The Carpenters and now here I am at the Oscars," Keeravani began, and then started singing his own version of the '70s pop smash hit: "There was only one wish on my mind. ... RRR has to win, pride of every Indian, and must put me on top of the world."

MM Keeravani is a man of few words, but he has mastered the art of bringing the house down across his many public appearances in America.

Naatu Naatu by singers Rahul Sipligunj has already won a Golden Globe and a Critics Choice Award this year, and hopes were high for an Academy Award. It has been such a runaway hit, that it is no surprise at all that it has won.

The song has made history as India’s first entertainment win at the Oscars. Leaving behind names such as Lady Gaga, Diane Warren and Rihanna, it was pitted against songs such as ‘Applause’ from Tell It Like a Woman, ‘Hold My Hand’ from Top Gun: Maverick, ‘Lift Me Up’ from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and ‘This Is a Life’ from Everything Everywhere All at Once.

PM Narendra Modi was one of the first to offer his congratulations. “Exceptional! The popularity of ‘NaatuNaatu’ is global. It will be a song that will be remembered for years to come. Congratulations to @mmkeeravani and @boselyricist and the entire team for this prestigious honour. India is elated and proud,” he tweeted.

NTR Jr, who starred in the song and the film with actor Ram Charan, was also attending the Awards event at Los Angeles. He reacted happily to the RRR feat at the Oscars.

“I cannot find the words to express my elation right now,” he said. “This is not just a win for RRR but for India as a country. I believe this is just the beginning, showing us how far Indian cinema can go. Congratulations to

Keeravaanigaru and Chandrabosegaru. Of course none of this would have been possible without a master storyteller called Rajamouli and the audiences who showered us with all the love.”

Tollywood megastar and actor Ram Charan’s father, Chiranjeevi was also quick to react to the historic moment. He tweeted, “#Oscars would have still been a dream for India but for One Man’s vision, courage & conviction @ ssrajamouli ! A Billion Hearts filled with Pride &Gratitude ! Kudos to every member of the Brilliant Team of @ RRRMovie”.

The song became one of India’s all-time hits almost as soon it was released. It had not only citizens shaking a leg but others as well (such as the Korean ambassador to India and his entire staff, in a viral video only weeks ago).

In an interview to Variety magazine, Keeravani had said, “The Naatu Naatu song has to make you forget everything –and not just the viewer who is watching the movie, but the characters from the story, too, need to forget every other thing happening around them and pay their full attention towards the song. And the coda, the end part of the song, consists of so much stamina, you cannot call it merely a song – it is an action sequence.”

Well, the song did make the star-studded audience at the 95th Academy Awards everything else for a moment, and just surrender to the high-octane energy of the anthem that RRR has gifted to the world.

As executive producer, Monga was the force behind The Elephant Whisperers, photographer Kartiki Gonsalves’ maiden documentary, lifting the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Film at the 95th Academy Awards. It was her second time.

The Elephant Whisperers landed in Monga’s lap when she was contacted by Kartiki Gonsalves, who had stumbled upon Bomman and his baby elephant Raghu near the Mudumalai National Park while on her way home in Ooty.

The Netflix India short film documents the tender relationship between Bomman and his helpmate, Ballie, whom he marries subsequently (Monga attended their wedding deep in the forest to get a better sense of the story), and Raghu, who was orphaned and abandoned by the herd after his mother got electrocuted at the national park.

Gonsalves, the daughter of IIT-Mandi founder-director Timothy and US-born historian Priscilla Gonsalves, shot the story of the indigenous couple on her phone, a GoPro, and then a DSLR camera.

Much of the filming was done at the Thepepakadu Elephant Camp, one of the oldest institutions of its kind in the region. Gonsalves had 400 hours of footage, which she finally got down to 40 minutes.

The Elephant Whisperers Oscar win comes after Monga took the same award for another documentary short film, Iranian American filmmaker Rayka Zehtabch’s Period: End of Sentence, which follows a group of local women at Kathikera village in Hapur, Uttar Pradesh, as they learn how to operate a machine that makes low-cost, biodegradable sanitary pads, which they sell to other women at affordable prices.

The short film was inspired by the life of Arunachalam Muruganantham, a social activist from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Monga, incidentally, has previously worked with Anurag Kashyap on projects such as Gangs of Wasseypur (Parts 1 and 2), Peddlers, The Lunchbox, Masaan, Zubaan and Pagglait.