SS Rajamouli’s RRR has been shortlisted for the Oscar Nominations in the Music (Original Song) category for its lively ‘Naatu Naatu’.
The final nominations will be announced on 24 January.
The film has been inspired by the life of Indian revolutionaries Komaram Bheem and Alluri Sitarama Raju.
In 1922, Alluri rebelled against the British for restricting the free movement of the tribal community within their own forests.
In 1924, he was captured by police forces, tied to a tree, and shot by a firing squad.
Komaram Bheem, another revolutionary who had just escaped from prison, heard about this and was inspired to protect the Gond tribe, to which he belonged.
When he heard about Raju’s fate, he mobilised Adivasi youth and commoners from 12 districts, and together they formed a guerilla army to protest for land rights.
He also proposed the plan to declare the group as a separate Gond kingdom.
As the revolution slowly swelled, Bheem insisted that the Nizam release those arrested on false charges and make a graceful exit from the Gond region.
It was at this time that the now infamous slogan of Jal, Jangal, Jameen (water, forest and land) was raised.
Bheem encouraged members of the community to fight for their rightful ownership of land, food and freedom.
But the Nizam, unwilling to give into the Gonds’ demands, organised to have Bheem killed.
Based on the information received, Bheem and his army were hunted down in September 1940, after the Nizam’s forces failed to get the leader to surrender.
Apart from the Gond leader, as many as 15 warriors were martyred when the forces opened fire, and many bodies were burnt unceremoniously, including that of Bheem.