Oscars 2023: Wins for ‘RRR’, ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ receive thumbs up from Indian celebs

With “RRR” and “The Elephant Whisperers” bringing Oscar glory for India, film personalities from across the country, including Rajinikanth, A R Rahman, Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn, celebrated the historic moment with pride on social media.

At the 95th Academy Awards, the foot-tapping chartbuster “Naatu Naatu”, composed by MM Keeravaani and penned by Chandrabose, made the Telugu feature film the first Indian production to bring home the golden statuette.

“The Elephant Whisperers“, directed by debutante Kartiki Gonsalves and produced by Guneet Monga, also became the maiden Indian production to win in the Documentary Short Film category.

“Naatu Naatu” choreographer Prem Rakshith told PTI from Los Angeles that the song’s win is a “huge proud moment for India”.

“We were all sitting together. We shouted like crazy and hugged each other,” he said, describing the euphoric moment when the film’s name was announced.

Rajinikanth tweeted, “My hearty congratulations to Shri. Keeravani, Shri. Rajamouli and Shri. Kartiki Gonsalves for getting the prestigious Oscar Award. I salute to the proud Indians.”

Read: Oscars 2023: ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ named Best Picture

Rahman greeted the Oscar-winning teams of “RRR” and “The Elephant Whisperers” with “Jai Ho”, the track from 2008 movie “Slumdog Millionaire” that earned the music composer an Academy Award for Original Song. He had also won an Oscar for Original Score.

“Congratulations @mmkeeravaani garu and @boselyricist garu… As predicted and well deserved… Jaiho to both of you and the #RRR team!! #RRRatOSCARS” he said in a tweet.

“Congratulations @guneetm and @EarthSpectrum you’ve opened the flood gates of inspiration for indian film makers! Jai ho#bosswomen” he posted further.

“Truly inspirational”, said Shah Rukh on India’s twin triumph at the Oscars.

“Big hug to @guneetm & @EarthSpectrum for Elephant Whisperers. And @mmkeeravaani #ChandraBose ji @ssrajamouli @AlwaysRamCharan @tarak9999 thank u for showing us all, the way to do it. Both Oscars truly inspirational!!” the superstar tweeted.

Sound designer Resul Pookutty, who won an Oscar for Sound Mixing for “Slumdog Millionaire”, also congratulated the teams of “RRR” and “The Elephant Whisperers”.

“This is a huge win congratulations to @mmkeeravaani and the team of #RRR” he said.

“Huge huge congratulations to @guneetm and the team of #elephantwhispers for their #Oscar win @TheAcademy You all created history. Guneet #IToldYouSo” he added.

Priyanka took to her Instagram Stories, giving a huge shout out to the teams of “RRR” and “The Elephant Whisperers”.

“Yessss team @rrrmovie @mmkeeravani” she wrote alongside the videos of the two winning moments for India from the award ceremony.

Alia Bhatt, who featured in “RRR” in a cameo appearance, shared a number of posts on Instagram, celebrating the Telugu blockbuster’s win.

In another post, she congratulated “The Elephant Whisperers” and its producer Guneet Monga.

“Ufff what a visual! Historic. Congratulations @guneetmonga and the whole team,” she wrote.

Filmmaker Karan Johar called the Oscar win of “RRR” “historic”.

“Historic!!!! OMG!!!!!!! I was jumping on my bed !!!!! So so so proud! @m. m. keeravani sir @ssrajamouli sir @jrntr @alwaysramcharan” he wrote on Instagram Stories.

The director said he is proud of the team of “The Elephant Whisperers” for creating history at the Academy Awards.

“Guneet! @guneetmonga you did it! So so so proud of you! You created history! Broke the glass ceiling and more than anything else paved the way…applause, Respect and many a salute to you” he posted.

Ajay Devgn, who also made a guest appearance in “RRR”, called the two trophies for Indian films a “proud moment”.

“As it is often said, cinema speaks a universal language. Congratulations to the teams of #RRR and #TheElephantWhisperers for their #Oscar wins. It’s a proud moment,” he tweeted.

Hrithik wrote: “Such a historic, proud & happy moment for Indian Cinema at #Oscars95 ! Many congratulations to the team of Best Documentary Short Film #TheElephantWhisperers & Team RRR for Best Original Song #NaatuNaatu !! More power to you all.”

“Wonderful!!! Congratulations to all of you #ElephantWhisperers” tweeted actor Kangana Ranaut.

The actor also praised “RRR” for making India proud.

“Congratulations to entire India, RRR, a movie about suppression, torture, killing, colonisation of Indians based on racial grounds gets appreciated on a world platform, number of Indians died just during one Bengal famine were way more than Jews died during holocaust. Thank team RRR” she added.

Veteran star Chiranjeevi, the father of “RRR” star Ram Charan, praised Rajamouli for his “vision, courage & conviction”.

“#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” he tweeted.

Nagarjuna called the Oscar win of “Naatu Naatu” a historic moment for Indian cinema.

“You make us proud!! What an incredible day for India. Congratulations team #ElephantWhisperers on being the first-ever Indian Documentary to win an Oscar. You showed the world the power of Indian storytelling…” he posted on Twitter.

Prabhas, the star of SS Rajamouli’s “Baahubali” film franchise, said “RRR” has etched its name in the history books with the Oscar win for “Naatu Naatu”.

“History will remember #RRR as the first Indian cinema film to be honoured with an #Oscar, for #NaatuNaatu Congratulations to the amazing team for the huge victory!” he wrote on Instagram.

“And there you go… NAATU NAATU!! Crossing all boundaries!! Congratulations to@mmkeeravaani garu, @boselyricist and the entire team of #RRR on their phenomenal win at the Oscars!! A jubilant moment for Indian cinema,” tweeted Mahesh Babu.

Samantha Ruth Prabhu wrote on Instagram, “What an incredible moment… It’s an Oscar baby”

Actor Rana Daggubati shared a video of the moment MM Keeravani and lyricist Chandrabose won the Oscar and wrote, “The roar of #RRR”

“RRR” (Rise Roar Revolt), a pre-independence fictional story, follows two real-life Indian revolutionaries Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan) and Komaram Bheem (Jr NTR) in the 1920s.

From the moment “Naatu Naatu” won the Original Song award at 95th Oscars, social media is abuzz with countless posts about “RRR” and videos from the award ceremony.

Many shared the clips of the electrifying performance of the Telugu track “Naatu Naatu” by singers Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava from the ceremony, held at the Dolby Theatre and live streamed on Disney+ Hotstar in India. The performance was introduced by Hindi film star Deepika Padukone.

Others shared various videos of the team of “RRR”, including filmmaker SS Rajamouli, Ram Charan and Jr NTR, erupting with joy after “Naatu Naatu” was announced as the winner for best original song. New Delhi, March 13 (PTI)