Oscars 2023: Best moments from the 95th Academy Awards
7 min read . Updated: 13 Mar 2023, 04:24 PM IST
Premium- Oscars 2023: From Naatu Naatu's electrifying performance to Ke Huy Quan's comeback, let's look at the best moments of the 95th Academy Awards.
All eyes were on the 2023 Oscars, following last year’s shocking slap scandal with Will Smith and Chris Rock. India celebrated its two historic Academy Awards with enthusiasm befitting the high-energy best original song “Naatu Naatu" and Best Documentary Short Film - The Elephant Whisperers. Surreal sci-fi film "Everything Everywhere All at Once" dominated the Oscars winning seven golden statuettes including best picture, Hollywood's most coveted prize. The film also won best director, best actress, best original screenplay, best editing, and both the best supporting actor and actress prizes. The next film to bag several awards is "All Quiet on the Western Front," Netflix's German-language World War I with four awards. It won best international feature and best cinematography.
Lets take a look at the Best Moments of Oscars 2023:
RRR's Naatu Naatu shake a leg at Oscars 2023
Extraordinary is a very small word to describe the grandiosity of SS Rajamouli's much-acclaimed 'RRR' track 'Naatu Naatu', which bagged the 'Best Original Song' trophy at this year's Oscars. Actor Deepika Padukone made it to the Academy Awards stage as a presenter to give a special shoutout to RRR's power-packed song 'Naatu Naatu.' She said, "An irresistibly catchy chorus, electrifying beats and killer dance moves to match have made this song a global sensation. It plays during a pivotal scene in 'RRR', a movie about the friendship between real-life Indian revolutionaries Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem. In addition to being sung in Telugu and illustrating the film's anti-colonialist themes, it's also a total banger!" The song was performed by playback singers Kaala Bhairava and Rahul Sipligunj
Naatu Naatu winning Best Original Song
Naatu Naatu from RRR won Oscar for Best Original Song. Composer MM Keeravani and lyricist Chandrabose accepted the award. While accepting the award, Keeravaani gave a musical speech, he said, “I grew up listenting to Oscars and here I am with the Oscars. In a musical speech, he said, “There was only one wish on my mind...RRR has to win ...the pride of every Indian...and it must put me on the top of the world. Naatu Naatu' won the award trumping big names like Rihanna and Lady Gaga.
The Elephant Whisperers win Best Documentary Short film
'The Elephant Whisperers' won the Oscar in the Best Documentary Short film category. It bested other nominees 'Haul Out,' 'How Do You Measure A Year?' 'The Martha Mitchell Effect,' and 'Stranger At The Gate'. The plot of the documentary revolves around a family who adopts two orphan baby elephants in Tamil Nadu's Mudumalai Tiger Reserve. Well, this is not the first time that Guneet Monga has brought the Oscar to India. In 2019, Guneet Monga's documentary 'Period. End of Sentence' bagged the Oscar in the Documentary Short Subject.
Jimmey Kimmel addresses The Slap:
Kimmel cracked several jokes about last year's shocking moment when Will Smith assaulted Chris Rock on stage for cracking a joke about his wife. "If any of you get mad at a joke and decide you want to get jiggy with it -- it's not going to be easy," vowed Kimmel, referring to lyrics from one of Smith's hit songs. Several movie superheroes were in the audience and could protect him, he noted. When the documentary section arrived, Kimmel noted that it was at the same section of the night "where we had that little skirmish last year. "Hopefully this time it goes off without a hitch. Or at least without 'Hitch,'" he said.
Lady Gaga no makeup performance:
Singer and performer Lady Gaga made her last minute appearance on the Oscar champagne-colored carpet in dramatic makeup and a fabulous Versace gown from the designer’s recent collection. But when she appeared onstage, to sing a powerful rendition of “Hold My Hand" from “Top Gun: Maverick," the glamorous outfit was gone, replaced by a T-shirt and ripped jeans and a makeup-free face.
Mom-to-be Rihanna performs 'Lift Me Up' at Oscars 2023
Barbadian singer Rihanna, who is currently expecting her second child to perform her Oscar-nominated song "Lift Me Up" from "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever." The superstar singer delivered a moving performance with a live orchestra and backup singers. The song 'Lift Me Up' is composed by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson while Tems and Ryan Coogler penned the lyrics of the song. The song was penned a tribute to Chadwick Boseman, who died in August 2020 after battling colon cancer.
Ke Huy Quan makes a comeback and how..
Ke Huy Quan who had mostly disappeared from Hollywood for over two decades, dispirited by the lack of on-camera work for Asian Americans. He returned in a big way, winning the supporting actor Oscar to cap an inspiring comeback story. Quan accepted the trophy Sunday night for his role in “Everything Everywhere All at Once," becoming just the second Asian winner ever in the supporting actor category, joining Haing S. Ngor for “The Killing Fields" in 1984. “I owe everything to the love of my life, my wife Echo," he said, “who month after month, year after year for 20 years told me that one day, one day my time will come. Dreams are something you have to believe in. I almost gave up on mine. To all of you out there, please keep your dreams alive." Inspired by the success of the 2018 movie “Crazy Rich Asians," Quan returned to acting and landed an audition for “Everything Everywhere All at Once," which earned a leading 11 Oscar nominations. When Everything Everywhere was awarded the best picture, Ke Huy Quan freaked out and hugged his former ‘Indiana Jones’ co-star Harrison Ford.
Michelle Yeoh makes history
Michelle Yeoh scripted history as the 1st Asian woman to win the Academy Award for best actress. The Malaysian-born actor won the award for her multifaceted performance in the multiversal “Everything Everywhere All at Once." As a nominee, Yeoh was the first in the category who identified as Asian. Merle Oberon, who was nominated in 1935 for “The Dark Angel" but didn't win, hid her South Asian heritage, according to birth records.
Meanwhile, other best moments at the Oscars 2023 also included Ruth E. Carter made history as becoming the first Black woman to win two Oscars who made history. Earlier in 2018, Carter took her first historic statuette for Black Panther and today too she won the award for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Brendan Fraser won the best actor Oscar for “The Whale," a transformative role in which he revived a career that was once so bright. “I started in this business 30 years ago and things didn’t come easily to me," said an emotional Fraser, breathing heavily on stage Sunday night. “I just want to say thank you for this acknowledgement." Fraser was one of five first-time nominees in the category, the first time that had happened since 1935. Fraser beat out Austin Butler of “Elvis," Colin Farrell of “The Banshees of Inisherin," Paul Mescal of “Aftersun," and Bill Nighy of “Living." Some other moments include, Elizabeth Banks, the director of comedy-horror hit "Cocaine Bear," presented the award for best visual effects alongside a person in a giant bear costume. Banks' film is based on a true story of a wild beast who overdosed on narcotics -- and the Oscars bear pretended to signal to audience members that he was craving cocaine. "You need to wait till the after-party like everybody else," she joked to her co-presenter. "The coke is not real. It's visual effects, right?" Elsewhere, Kimmel too appeared onstage with a donkey which he claimed was Jenny, the beloved pet of Colin Farrell's character in best picture nominee "The Banshees of Inisherin." Jenny had been allowed to fly from Ireland because she is "a certified emotional support donkey, or at least that's what we told the airline," Kimmel joked.
(With inputs from agencies)