Sushil Rao’s documentary on Oscar winner lyricist Chandrabose enters finals in Cannes World Film Festival, France

HYDERABAD: Oscar Challagariga, produced and directed by Chilkuri Sushil Rao, made it to the finals at the Cannes World Film Festival in France. The finalists were announced on December 16, 2023.

Films from the United States, Germany, Greece, the United Kingdom, Australia, Malta, Iran, China, the Russian Federation, Cuba, Guinea-Bissau, Costa Rica, Sweden, France, Bulgaria, Chile, Brazil, Switzerland, Spain, Colombia, Turkey, India, Canada, and Belgium are among those that have made it to the finals.

"Cannes World Film Festival is a showcase of the best gems and must-see films from around the World. Our Golden Firefly only picks the best films for the screenings so it's not only a great festival to enter, but a great film journey to attend,” said Karolina Bomba, founder and president of Cannes World Film Festival.

The Telugu song “Naatu Naatu” from the movie “RRR” directed by S S Rajamouli won the Academy Awards presented in 2023.

The lyrics for the song were composed by Chandrabose who hails from Challagariga village in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district in Telangana, India. Both Chandrabose and music director M M Keeravani received the Oscar award for the ‘Best Original Song’ in the Oscars presented at Dolby theatre, in Hollywood, Los Angeles, US, on March 12, 2023. This was the first time an Indian production won an Oscar Awards in the 95-year-old history of the awards presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

“Oscar Challagairga” is a documentary that captures the celebratory mood in the non-descript Challagiraga village from where Chandrabose hailed. On April 2, 2023, hundreds of villagers accorded a grand welcome to Chandrabose when he visited the village for the first time with the award after he arrived in Hyderabad.

The villagers showered flower petals on him as a celebratory procession was taken out. A typically local and rural music band gave him a resounding welcome.

“The villagers accorded a welcome befitting a King to Chandrabose. They understood that he had won the world’s top honour in filmdom. The documentary is a fitting tribute not just to Chandrabose but the villagers who showered their love on Chandrabose,” documentary filmmaker Chilkuri Sushil Rao said.

The documentary filmmaker Chilkuri Sushil Rao is a gold medalist from the Department of Communication and Journalism from Osmania University established in 1918 in Hyderabad. He has been a journalist since 1988.