AR Rahman expresses disappointment, says, ‘Wrong movies are being sent for the Oscars’

At the Oscars in 2009, Rahman was honoured with two awards

This year, the Gujrati-language film, Chhello Show (Last Film Show) was chosen as India's official Oscars entry

At the recently held 95th Academy Awards, India won big. The song Naatu Naatu from the Telugu-language film RRR claimed the trophy for Best Original Song while the documentary The Elephant Whisperers bagged the award for Best Documentary film. In a recent interview, Indian music composer AR Rahman who won the Oscars for his work for the film Slumdog Millionaire in 2009, opened up in a recent interview about the films that are sent to the Oscars saying that ‘Wrong movies are being sent for the award ceremony from India.

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“Sometimes, I see that our movies go till the Oscar… they don't get it. Wrong movies are being sent for the Oscars. And I am just like DON'T. I have to be in Westerner’s shoes to see what’s happening here. I have to be in my shoes to see what they are doing,” Rahman was quoted as saying.

This year, the Gujrati-language film, Chhello Show (Last Film Show) was chosen as India's official Oscars entry. The film was on the shortlist, but it didn't receive a nomination. Given the success of the movie RRR, some Hollywood publications discussed India's choice to nominate the Gujarati film over the Telugu movie, which they claimed was a surefire hit as a contender for the Best Foreign Film award. Numerous media sites even claimed that RRR would have won if it had been the chosen.

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At the Oscars in 2009, Rahman was honoured with two awards; one being Best Original Score for Slumdog Millionaire and the other for the track Jai Ho. Slumdog Millionaire is a 2008 British drama film which narrated the story of an 18-year boy from Mumbai slums who goes on to win INR 2 crore on a television game show. The film was nominated in 10 categories at the Academy Awards and won eight.