The Variety editor responsible for making the Hollywood bible's predictions for the Oscars and Emmys has a lot of good news for the makers of RRR. If Clayton Davis had the casting vote at the Academy, RRR would be a close runner-up to Close, Lukas Ghont's 2022 Cannes Grand Prix-winning coming-of-age movie, in the Best Picture and the International Feature categories (though for the latter, it is not India's official entry). SS Rajamouli Receives Best Director Award for RRR at NYFCC! Videos of His Acceptance Speech and Crowd Cheering for the Filmmaker Go Viral.

And if Davis were the God of All Things at the Academy, music composer M.M. Keeravaani, along with playback singers Suddala Ashok Teja and Kala Bhairava, would come home with the Oscar for 'Komuram Bheemudo ', staving off a challenge from "Naatu Naatu". The period drama's director, S.S. Rajamouli, is in the running for Best Director, but he gets an honourable mention, in a field topped by Todd Field, the helmer of the highly anticipated film, Tar. RRR: Game of Thrones’ Nathalie Emmanuel Is Super-Impressed With SS Rajamouli’s Film and Her Tweets Are Proof!

Also to land an honourable mention is RRR star Jr NTR for Best Actor in a Leading Role, where the favourite is the Elvis star, Austin Butler, followed by Brendan Fraser ('The Whale'). Jr NTR is in the honourable company of Will Smith ('Emancipation'), Hugh Jackman ('Son') and Bill Nighy ('Living'), who also have received honourable mentions. Vijayendra Prasad, RRR screenplay writer, is on another list of honourable mentions, for Original Screenplay; so is Sabu Cyril, for Production Design and A. Sreekar Prasad for Film Editing.

K.K. Senthil Kumar is among the five on Davis's shortlist for Best Cinematography in the formidable company of his compatriots behind the cameras of Batman, Top Gun: Maverick, Emancipation and Nope. Likewise, RRR music composer M.M. Keeravaani is in the shortlist for Original Score.

RRR figures again in Davis's shortlist for Visual Effects and earns an honourable mention for Sound. The Tollywood blockbuster that has gripped the imagination of the world clearly seems to be the hot favourite of the magazine that has been reporting on Hollywood and world cinema for more than a century. One win, three runners-up trophies, three on shortlists and four honourable mentions -- mighty impressive!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 05, 2023 05:42 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).