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Sunday was a special day for India at the 95th Academy Awards, as history was created with ‘RRR’, an epic Telugu film, bringing home the Oscar for Best Original Song – ‘Naatu Naatu’. It is the first time an Indian film has received such a recognition. Another win at the coveted ceremony was Kartiki Gonsalves’s heart-tugging film, ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ for Best Documentary Short Film.
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Actor Deepika Padukone also made an appearance on the Oscars stage this year as one of the presenters of the night. However, she is not the first Indian to do so. Only two Indians have presented at the prestigious awards before her. In 1980, Persis Khambatta became the first Indian to be chosen for the honour. She was an actor and model who is best remembered for her role in 1979’s ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’, as Lieutenant Ilia. More recently, Priyanka Chopra presented at the 2016 Oscars.
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Several nominations for Indian films, documentaries and short films have been made it in the past, but only a handful of Indians have won the coveted statuette, the first being Bhanu Athaiya, who bagged the award for Best Costume Design for the film ‘Gandhi’ in 1983.
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Mehboob Khan’s ‘Mother India’ was the first Indian film to receive an honorary mention in the Best Foreign Language Film Category at the 30th Academy Awards. It was also nominated for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. The film is a powerful portrayal of the resilience and strength of Indian women, with Nargis Dutt delivering an excellent performance as the lead.
In 1989, Mira Nair’s debut feature, ‘Salaam Bombay!’, was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film. Singer, Bombay Jayashri was nominated for Best Original Song in Ang Lee’s film, ‘Life Of Pi’ for the song, ‘Pi’s Lullaby’. In 2022, ‘Writing With Fire’, directed by Sushmit Ghosh and Rintu Thomas, made history by becoming the first-ever film to be nominated for Best Documentary (Feature). The film was about a group of women in a marginalised Dalit community and their attempt to transition their newspaper from print to digital medium.
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