The film industry in India is among the biggest and oldest in the world. It is a country that annually produces the highest number of movies (over 2,000 films) per year. And the biggest accolade a film could ever receive in the global entertainment industry is the Oscars, also known as Academy Awards.
Winning an Oscar has been a long-standing dream of the Indian cinema industry. Despite numerous nominations for the award in the past, only a handful of Indian films have succeeded in taking home the Oscar. In its 95-year history, only three Indian films have ever received Academy Award nominations. Slumdog Millionaire by Danny Boyle and Gandhi by Richard Attenborough, both of which were technically British films but were made in India, has won multiple Oscars in the past. Bhanu Athaiya, Rasool Pookutty, A. R. Rahman, and Gulzar, however, won Oscars as a result of these movies.
However, the entire Indian film industry is ecstatic as the dream has finally come true this year. RRR became one of India’s highest-grossing movies was a worldwide success. Since its release, the film has been screened in theatres in the US and other nations. The song ‘Naatu Naatu’ won the Best Original Song Oscar at the 95th Academy Awards. Elephant Whispers, a short documentary directed by Karthik Gonsalves and produced by Guneet Monga, took home the Oscar for best short documentary.
In many ways, this represents a turning point for Indian cinema, primarily since Bollywood has often been associated with films from this part of the world. The notion that all Indian films are Bollywood films was shattered with the historic win of both the film and documentary. The potential of Indian cinema is now becoming more widely recognised in the West.
To win an oscar is not a simple thing. It must be noted that over 7,000 persons related to the film industry cast votes to choose the winners of the Oscars. Out of those 7,000 people, your chances of winning the award increase with the number of people you can screen your movie for. Large-scale gatherings and expensive special screenings must be planned for this. Most Indian filmmaker do not have enough resources to market their films to the global level, which results in the film getting unnoticed both at the national and international level.
Rajamouli and RRR producers were able to win the Oscar for Best Original Song for ‘Naatu Naatu,’ by independently promoting the film. The nationwide tour leading up to the premiere of RRR shows how careful Rajamouli is about marketing his movies. The film which was made with a budget of over Rs. 550 Crore has already collected over Rs. 1,200 Crore. They spent around Rs. 80 Crore only for promotions. This shows how Rajamouli clearly understands need to advertise and brand his films.
Despite the wins, there are still several challenges standing in the way of Indian movies winning Oscars. The language barrier is one of the biggest challenges. The majority of Indian films are produced in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, or other regional languages, making it challenging for audiences outside of India to relate to them. The underappreciation of Indian films in mainstream Hollywood is another problem. It is challenging for Indian films to win awards since they frequently fail to fit within Hollywood’s dominant narrative. Marketing the film on a global level is yet another challenge for Indian films.
However, the Oscar for ‘Naatu Naatu’ has opened up the world market for Indian films. The Indian producers may now make use of opportunities at the box office in Europe and America, predominantly in the West. Thus, filmmakers can also target local language audiences in those markets as well as the western audience.
Finally, Indian film is receiving the recognition it deserves on a global level. It has marked a turning point in the way that country is portrayed in the international film industry. It has opened the door for Indian cinema to have a huge influence on a larger global audience and also the motivation to give Indian film producers the appreciation it deserves.