Indians at Oscars: A brief history

The nominations for the 95th edition of the Academy Awards, colloquially known as the Oscars, were unveiled yesterday. The Daniels' Everything Everywhere All at Once emerged as the biggest contender when the awards actually happen in March with 11 nominations, including the major ones like Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress. India also had a moment in the spotlight with three films, SS Rajamouli's RRR, Shaunak Sen's All That Breathes, and Kartiki Gonsalves's The Elephant Whisperers. They were nominated in the Best Song category (for 'Naatu Naatu'), Best Documentary Feature, and Best Documentary Short categories, respectively. Still, for the biggest producer of films, many feel this is not nearly enough. 
 

Yes. But precious few Indian films and artists have received Oscar nominations in almost a century since the Academy Awards were established. The number of winners are even fewer. 
 

The fairness of the Oscars has always been a matter of debate. Some argue that the Academy Awards do not always accurately reflect the best films or performances of the year. There have been instances where a film or performance has been critically acclaimed but has not received recognition from the Academy. Additionally, the Academy's voting membership has historically been predominantly white and male, leading to accusations of bias and underrepresentation of marginalised groups in the nominees and winners. These awards are given by a specific group of industry professionals, and their choices are influenced by a variety of factors such as personal taste, industry politics, and lobbying by studios and publicists. Here are all the Indian films, directors, actors, actresses, and so on that won or were nominated for the Academy Awards:
 

Mehboob Khan's iconic Mother India was the first ever Indian film to find an Oscar nomination at the 30th Academy Awards. It featured Nargis, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar, and Raaj Kumar in the cast. The film explored the crushing poverty endured by a woman (Nargis) as she struggled to raise her sons.
 

Producer Ismail Merchant earned a nomination for his short film The Creation of Woman.
 

Fali Bilimoria garnered this nomination by the Academy for his film The House That Ananda Built.
 

Ishu Patel got this nomination for his film Bead Game. The film was shot by arranging beads into the shapes of different kinds of creatures who then appear to devour one another. The scene that emerges is of human warfare. It is all supposed to be a metaphor of the dangers and destructive capability of modern weapons like the atomic bomb. The film was inspired by the beadwork of Inuit women. 
 

Kapil got this nomination for 'An Encounter with Faces'.
 

Gandhi, a Richard Attenborough directorial, was not purely an Indian production (it was jointly produced by UK and Indian production companies). But Bhanu Athaiya remains the first Indian to win an Oscar in any category.
 

Sitarist and composer Ravi Shankar earned a nomination in the best score category for the same film, but did not win.
 

This British film A Room with a View got the nomination. It was produced by Ismail Merchant, who was earlier nominated for an Oscar for his short film The Creation of a Woman as well.
 

Mira Nair fiercely told the story of prostitutes and street children effectively, and for her work, the film has won the Camera d’Or & Audience Award at the Cannes Film Festival.
 

The legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray may have been ignored by the Academy for most of his career, but he was bestowed with an honorary Oscar in 1992. 
 

Producer Ismail Merchant was nominated in two consecutive years for Howards End and The Remains of the Day.
 

Ashutosh Gowariker's Aamir Khan-fronted epic period drama, Lagaan made it into the top nominees but failed to clinch the trophy.
 

Starring Irrfan Khan and Koel Purie, Ashvin Kumar's short film Little Terrorist was a tiny yet evocative story about a Pakistani Muslim child who crosses over to the Indian side of the border.
 

After decades of drought, Slumdog Millionaire opened the floodgates. A Hollywood film helmed by British filmmaker Danny Boyle, it got three Indians four Oscars: Resul Pookutty in Best Sound Mixing, Gulzar and AR Rahman in Best Original Song, and Rahman again for Best Original Score.
 

Maestro Rahman garnered Best Original Score and Best Original Song nominations a couple of years later. But this time, he did not win.
 

Ang Lee's adaptation of Yann Martel's 2001 novel of the same name, Life of Pi was nominated in the Best Original Song category. The song was 'Pi's Lullaby', written by Carnatic musician Bombay Jayashri.
 

Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh's documentary film was nominated in the Best Documentary Feature category. It was about journalists in a Dalit women-led newspaper Khabar Lahariya, who plan to shift to digital journalism from print.
 

SS Rajamouli's RRR brought immense pride to India. The smash hit song ''Naatu Naatu'' became the first Telugu song to ever win an Oscar at the 95th Academy Awards. The film, which told the story of two Indian revolutionaries, Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem, respectively, became the first Indian production to win an Oscar. 
 

Kartiki Gonsalves-directed The Elephant Whisperers has been nominated in the Best Documentary Short category. The film is about a tribal couple in South India who are tasked with the care of an orphaned baby elephant. 
 

Shaunak Sen's All That Breathes, a documentary film, also got a nomination. The film is about siblings Mohammad Saud and Nadeem Shehzad who rescue black kites in Delhi. The birds of prey were once a staple of the city's skies but now are struggling to survive in the smoggy and polluted air of India's national capital.