NEW DELHI: After a gap of 14 years and adding twin feathers to India’s cap at a time when it is already riding high on the wave of popularity created by the charismatic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India won two Oscar Awards at the 95th Academy Awards ceremony held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles US.
Music composer of Telugu origin, MM Keeravani, known as M M Kreem in Hindi film industry and Maragathamani in Tamil film world, won the Oscar for the Best Original Song Naatu Naatu’ from Telugu film RRR.
The second award was won by Indian documentary The Elephant Whisperers in the Best Documentary Short Film category. The makers of this documentary are Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga. India twin Oscar glory comes after a long spell dominated by The Slumdog Millionaire, which had won four Oscars in 2009 for the Best Sound Mixing, Best Original Song Lyrics, Best Original Song Music and Best Original Score.
The first competitive Oscar was won by India in 1983 when Bhanu Athaiya had won the award for Best Costume Design for Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi.
