All The Indians Who’ve Won An Oscar Over The Years

This is a big day for India! Indian artists claimed not one but two Oscars at the 95th Academy Awards 2023. While Natu Natu from RRR won in the Best Original Song category, The Elephant Whispers won in the Best Documentary Short Subject. As we all celebrate, here is the list of other Indian Oscar winners who made the country proud:

Bhanu Athaiya – Best Costume Design (1983)

Bhanu Athaiya was the first Oscar winner from India. She won in the Best Costume Design category in 1983 for the historical drama Gandi. The film was directed by Richard Attenborough and Bhanu dressed up the characters of MK Gandhi and BR Ambedkar. Bhanu was a popular costume designer back in the day and has been part of at least 100 movies including Amrapali, Waqt, Guide, and Swades.

Satyajit Ray – Honorary Award (1992)

Legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray was one of the first and only Indian to receive an Honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He was felicitated for exceptional work in the field of filmmaking and for creating an impact worldwide during the 64th Academy Awards in 1992. However, Satyajit Ray couldn’t make it to the Oscars as he was ill and gave a speech while hospitalised. His works include the Apu Trilogy, The Music Room, The Big City, and Charulata.  

Resul Pookutty – Best Sound Mixing (2009)

In 2009, sound engineer Resul Pookutty won the Oscar at the 81st Academy Awards for Best Sound Mixing for Slumdog Millionaire. He won the award alongside Richard Pryke and Ian Tapp. Resul has worked in many Hindi, Tamil, and Malayalam films. Some of his work has been for films like Black, Gandhi, My father, Traffic Signal, and Enthiran.

A.R. Rehman – Best Original Score & Best Original Song (2009)

At the 81st Academy Awards in 2009, A.R. Rahman created history by being the first Indian to be nominated in three categories for Slumdog Millionaire. He then went on to bag two Oscar awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song for Jai Ho. He has also previously been nominated in the Best Original Songs category for the movies If I Rise and 127 Hours at the Academy Awards.

Gulzar – Best Original Song (2009)

At the 81st Academy Awards, Indian poet and lyricist shared the Oscars with A.R. Rehman for the song Jai Ho. Their song from Slumdog Millionaire won in the Best Original Song Category. Apart from this, Gulzar Sahab has received many honours and awards, including National Film Awards, Grammy Awards, Padma Bhushan, and Dadasaheb Phalke Award.  

M. M. Keeravaani & Chandrabose – Best Original Song (2023)

RRR’s Natu Natu song won Best Original Song at the 95th Academy Awards. Composers, M. M. Keeravani and Chandrabose received the trophy for the historic win. While receiving the award, M.M. Keeravani sang his acceptance speech and won hearts.

Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga- Best Documentary Short( 2023)

Guneet Monga and Kartiki Gonsalves made us proud by winning an Oscar for The Elephant Whisperer in the Best Documentary Short Subject category. This is the first time an Indian film has won in this category. But this is certainly not Guneet’s first win at the Oscars. In 2019, her film Period. End of Sentence won Oscar in the Documentary Short Subject category!

BRB, manifesting more desi winners for the 2024 Academy Awards.

Also read, Oscar 2023: List of All Winners

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