The win of “Naatu Naatu” at the Oscars represents a triumph for both the film industry and for the diverse cultural traditions that it represents. It is a powerful reminder of the storytelling to connect people across boundaries of languages, cultures, and geographies, and to inspire empathy and understanding in the face of adversity.

However, Netizens are upset to see RRR being referred to as a Bollywood movie, and not an Indian-Telugu-Movie.

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SS Rajamouli, director of the movie, has already clarified in an interview that the movie comes from South India by quoting, “RRR is Not a Bollywood film, it is a Telugu film from the south of India where I come from, but I use the song to move the story forward rather than stopping the film and giving you a piece of music and dance. I just use those elements to move the story forward.”

Despite the fact that the makers were promoting the movie as an Indian-Telugu-Movie, Jimmy Kimmel, the host at Oscars ignited the flame of controversy by describing the movie as a part of Bollywood cinema in his monologue. Indian fans quickly reacted to his statement by slamming him for the slip-up.

“Success has many fathers, failure is an orphan”, the age-old saying fits perfectly in this case. Jaya Bachchan, as also the Bollywood, was called out by the Netizens for claiming credit for something they haven’t done.

All this started with Congress President Malikarjun Kharge praising the team in a statement. He said, “Particularly first time such an award is given to this Naatu Naatu and also, to The Elephant Whisperers. So both, mostly, come from South India. It is a great pride to us.”

On the contrary, Jaya Bachchan said, “It doesn’t matter where they are from North, East, South or West – they are Indians. I stand here with pride and respect for our film fraternity, who have represented this country many times and won many awards. The cinema market is here. It is not in America. This is just the beginning and I would like to congratulate the Indian population, for whom people in the West are recognizing great works by Indian filmmakers.”

Bachchan’s statement backfired when fans exposed Bollywood’s duality. The fans said they weren’t even ready to recognize the talent of southern cinema once. Now that the southern industry has got a platform to showcase its talent they lost no time in projecting it as Indian cinema from the south.

The Netizens were also critical of parliamentarians for discussing the matter in the House while more important issues are confronting the country.