Natu-Natu and The Elephant Whisperers winning Oscars opened new doors of Indian cinema in Hollywood

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The evening of March 12 was momentous and glorious for India in many ways. RRR Of Naatu Naatu won the Best Original Song Oscar and The Elephant Whispers won the Best Documentary Short Oscar at the 95th Oscars, making it a historic double win for India. Both the films showcased the beauty of India and its diverse culture in dramatically different ways.

On one hand, director SS Rajamouli’s three-hour long magnum opus, RRR starring Ram Charan and Jr NTR grossed over Rs 1250 crore worldwide and its song Naatu Naatu went viral globally. On the other hand, we had Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga’s 40-minute documentary-film about a Kattunayakan tribal couple, Bomman and Bailey, in Tamil Nadu and how they raise orphaned elephants like their own children.

RRR is a larger-than-life film about brotherhood and freedom between two real freedom fighters (Alluri Seetharama Raju and Komaram Bheem) and SS Rajamouli’s imagination, while The Elephant Whispers is a real-life heartwarming story. The fact that these two Indian films won Oscars proves that there are innumerable stories in Indian history. The world is slowly opening its eyes to what we have to offer and what our culture is.

Now, for India to win the Oscars on March 12, it means that not only will doors open for actors, filmmakers and technicians in Hollywood but also for content from India. Foreign audiences, who hitherto believed that all Indian cinema was unrealistic, over the top loud musicals, have now seen that there are diverse categories of content that exist just like in the West. A large part of this awakening must also be attributed to international OTT platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, which produce and showcase diverse Indian content globally. For example, The Elephant Whispers was produced by Guneet Monga’s Sikhya Entertainment but distributed globally by Netflix.

Thus far Indian cinema has been associated with Bollywood. Even on Oscar night, host Jimmy Kimmel referred to RRR as a Bollywood film, which didn’t go down well with many Indians. The fact is that Indian cinema includes several regional film industries, including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, etc. And each of these industries produces not only commercial, large-scale theatrical releases, but also interesting documentaries and short films.

Independent documentaries and short films have become extremely popular in India in the last decade with the advent of YouTube. Many youngsters are creative and talented but they do not have the means to make big budget films. Online distribution platforms like YouTube have given them the opportunity to put out content at practically no or very little cost – to a global audience, to boot. Short films are the calling card for aspiring filmmakers and you also find that some feature films have been inspired by shorts. Independent filmmakers have also discovered that showing their films at international film festivals – big or small – gets them attention and has become a go-to for feature filmmakers as well. International film festivals give him recognition and legitimacy in the West, both of which are considered important for an Indian filmmaker today.

The Oscar win for The Elephant Whispers and RRR is an achievement for India and a win for all who are in Indian cinema and who aspire to be in Indian cinema, mainstream or otherwise. The recognition that these two films and the awards have brought to India has proved that the country has immense talent and the West is welcoming it with open arms.

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