'I don’t know if RRR is Oscar material,’ says director-actor Gautham Menon

Director-actor Gautham Menon doesn't think that SS Rajamouli's ‘RRR’ is 'Oscar material'. During an interview with India Today, he was asked about his opinion on Ram Charan-Jr NTR starrer not being selected as India's official entry for the 95th Academy Awards.

Last week, Gujarati film ‘Chhello Show’ was announced as India’s official entry at the Oscars in the best international feature film category by the Film Federation of India (FFI). The Pan Nalin directorial was unanimously chosen over films such as ‘RRR’, ‘Brahmastra’, ‘The Kashmir Files’ and ‘Rocketry’.

Talking about ‘RRR’ and ‘Chhello Show’, Gautham said that he’s happy if one of our films gets the Oscars, but he doesn’t know if ‘RRR’ is ‘Oscar material’. He added that the director doesn’t make a film thinking about the awards, and it’s only after its release that people love the performance and chat about awards begins.

‘There's another film that has been selected so I haven't seen that film. I would love to see it. There's a lot of talk about that film also saying, 'This is the film that should make it to the Oscars'. Honestly, I'm not so sure. For me, if one of our films gets the Oscars, very happy about it but then somewhere that drive to be there is not there as yet in that sense. I'm not being sour grapes or anything like that. But to answer your question, I don’t know if RRR is also Oscar material, in that sense, honestly,’ Gautham told India Today.

‘When we make the film, we really don't think about awards. It is only when the film releases and people love the performance, that there is this chat about awards. A film is never made for an award-winning performance, or, to get the best director award, it's never made like that. We put what the film deserves into it. Right? That's all it is,’ he added

After the snub from Film Federation of India, Variance Films, ‘RRR's US distributor, requested the Academy to consider the film 'in all categories', including best picture, director, original screenplay, lead actor, supporting actor, and supporting actress among others.

‘RRR’ narrates the story of real-life revolutionaries Komaram Bheem and Alluri Sitaraman. The film is set in the 1920s when India was under the British rule.

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