Hollywood’s biggest night unravels on March 10 this year, with the Oscars honouring movies ranging from the two Barbenheimer blockbusters and even an Indian-set Canadian documentary To Kill A Tiger. Considering India’s gargantuan film release output every year, it’s very rare for Indian productions to make it to the Academy Awards. But there are a few exceptions. Have a look at our list below of every Indian movie that has won or been nominated for an Oscar and where you can watch them.
2023 Oscars: When RRR and The Elephant Whisperers earned India double wins
While To Kill A Tiger might lack Indian producers, the country cherished the 2023 Oscars with Telugu action flick RRR’s energetic musical number "Naatu Naatu" winning Best Original Song (a historic first for India in this category) and the Kartiki Gonsalves-directed and Guneet Monga-produced Netflix documentary The Elephant Whisperers taking home the Oscar for Best Documentary Short. In the former’s case, music composer MM Keeravani and lyricist Chandrabose picked up the award.
In the very same ceremony, Shaunak Sen’s Sundance favourite All That Breathes was also running for the Best Documentary Feature category but unfortunately lost to Navalny. Just a year before Sen’s loss, Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh’s Writing With Fire was also competing for Best Documentary Feature. While All That Breathes explored the lives of two veterinary brothers committed to protecting the birds of Delhi, Writing With Fire followed the trials and tribulations of rural urban journalists.
From Mother India to Lagaan: India’s Best International Feature Submissions
Despite India submitting to the Best International Feature category every year, only three movies from the country have managed to make it to the top five (all three being Hindi-language dramas).
Back when the Best International Feature category was known as Best Foreign Language film, Mehboob Khan’s epic social drama Mother India made history by marking India’s first-ever Oscar nomination in 1957. The Nargis Dutt-starrer ultimately lost to Federico Fellini’s Nights of Cabiria (Italy).
Decades later, Mira Nair’s coming-of-age tale on urban poverty Salaam Bombay secured a spot in the category but lost out to the Danish submission Pelle The Conqueror.
The last Indian movie to get nominated for Best International Feature is the Aamir Khan-led period cricket epic Lagaan. The anti-imperialist narrative of colonised Indians challenging their British overlords for a cricket match struck a chord with international audiences and Lagaan was nominated alongside the acclaimed French romance Amelie at the 2001 Oscars. Lagaan eventually lost out to Bosnian war film No Man’s Land.
AR Rahman, Satyajit Ray, and more: The Indian Oscar wins from non-Indian movies
If we look back at Indian representation in the Oscars, many of the winners were awarded for films set in India but mostly produced under the umbrella of Hollywood. So, something like 2009 Best Picture winner Slumdog Millionaire was ultimately a British production with Danny Boyle on the director’s chair. Set in the slums of India’s metropolitan hub Mumbai, the movie featured music by AR Rahman. The Indian virtuoso earned himself an Oscar for Best Original Song for “Jai Ho” (written by co-winner Gulzar) and another Oscar for Best Original Score. Similarly, Indian sound designer Resul Pookutty bagged the Oscar for Best Sound Mixing that year.
More prominent Indian Oscar-winners include veteran Bengali director Satyajit Ray who was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Oscar in 1992 and Bhanu Athaiya who won an Oscar for Best Costume Design for her work in Gandhi.
Where to stream India’s Oscar-winning and nominated movies?
Netflix, Hotstar, ZEE5 and Jio Cinema offer most of the recent Oscar winners. As for Best International Feature nominees, you can watch Mother India on Eros Now and Shemaroo, while you can stream Lagaan on Netflix.
