India Oscars!

Itwas a historic night of pride and happiness for Indian cinema as two films representing the Indian film industry at the 95th Academy Awards in Los Angeles brought home the Oscars! Guneet Monga’s short documentary The Elephant Whisperer directed by firsttimer Kartiki Gonsalves won the Best Documentary Short Film making Kartiki the first Indian director to win in the category as well as the first Indian ever to win in any directing category.

Also adding to the laurels, MM Keeravaani’s RRR song ‘Naatu Naatu’ that had won the Golden Globes earlier this year, won the Oscar for the Best Original Song. The fast-paced number penned by lyricist Chandrabose and featuring the film’s lead heroes Ram Charan and Jr NTR made history as the first movie from the South Asian country to win the honour. The song also won a standing ovation when it was performed at the awards event.

The song was presented by Deepika Padukone who wowed the audience with her elegance and classy poise in a Louis Vuitton black dress accessorized by a Cartier neckpiece. Also attending the event were the film’s director SS Rajamouli, Ram Charan and Jr NTR. The South gone Pan-Global stars – Ram Charan and Jr NTR put their fashionable best foot forward at the event, winning hearts with their charm and scoring points with their dashing fashion statements.

Ram Charan who attended the awards event with his wife Upasana Kamineni Konidela celebrated homegrown artisans with his custom-made bandh-gala Shantanu and Nikhil creation, with the look styled by Nikita Jaisinghani. Upasana Kamineni Konidela complemented Ram’s look with perfection in a Jayanti Reddy customised silk saree made using hand woven silk of spun fabric, created from recycled scraps, and accessorized her look with a statement Lilium neck piece.

Meanwhile, Jr NTR not only carried India in his heart, but also on his sleeve sporting a gold-embroidered tiger on his black velvet custom-made bandhgala created by Gaurav Gupta. The tiger was a homage to his character of Komaram Bheem as well as his fight sequence with the animal in the film, and also draws parallels with the National Animal of India. Interestingly, the moniker of The Young Tiger is also used for Jr NTR by his fan base!

- Aakanksha Naval-Shetye

You performed at the rst edition of the Wireless Music Festival in Abu Dhabi alongside international headliners Travis Scott, Lil Uzi, M.I.A and others. What was the headspace like ahead of the performance?

Really, really excited. It’s my first time in Abu Dhabi.

I’ve played in Dubai a lot of times and I know I’ve got a lot of fans here, so it’s exciting. Also we usually don’t get to play in Pakistan and my Pakistani fans get to come out here and watch me, so that’s definitely very exciting too.