WASHINGTON : Indian filmmaker Kartiki Gonsalves and producer Guneet Monga win the Oscar for ‘The Elephant Whisperers’

WASHINGTON  : Hollywood’s biggest night, the 95th Academy Awards is finally here! This year holds a lot of promise, especially for India with M.M. Keeravani and Chandrabose inches away from clinching victory for their song ‘Naatu Naatu’ in SS Rajamouli’s ‘RRR’ starring Ram Charan and Jr NTR.
Should they win, it’ll mark the first Telugu song to bring home an Oscar. Not just that, Guneet Monga is tipped to strike gold with her heart-warming production ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ which is contending in the Best Documentary Short category.
Also eyeing Oscar glory is director Shaunak Sen’s ‘All That Breathes’ which is also among the front runners to win Best Documentary Feature Film. Another familiar face to look out for on the red carpet and the Oscar stage is Deepika Padukone who was the only Indian star this year to be invited to the show to present an award.
Hoping to add a page to the record books is the multiverse sci-fi smash hit ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ which tops the list with 11 nominations, including nods for Best Picture and Best Director. While there are clear favourites for the Best Picture race, the acting categories are incredibly tight.Michelle Yeoh is the top contender in this year’s Oscars race for Best Actress, which will make her the first Asian actress to walk home with this honour.
For that, she will have to best actress, Cate Blanchett who had long been favoured to win a third Oscar for ‘Tar’, making her only the eighth star to bag three Oscars. The Best Actor category is a three-horse race between Austin Butler (Elvis), Brendan Fraser (The Whale) and Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin).
While the bet’s on Fraser to take the win, Farrell and Butler are proving to be strong contenders. Follow the ETimes blog for real-time updates on the 2023 Oscars from the red carpet to inside the Dolby Theatre and behind the scenes.