Hollywood producer Jason Blum is confident that S.S. Rajamouli's magnum opus RRR will bag the best picture trophy at the Oscars this year.
Blum, the founder of Hollywood studio Blumhouse that bankrolled Oscar-winning movies such as Get Out and BlacKkKlansman, predicted the film's win in a Twitter post on Monday.
"I'm going with RRR winning best pic. You heard it here first. Mark it down, please. If I'm right, I am awarding myself my own Oscar," the producer wrote.
The movie's official Twitter handle posted a reply to Blum, thanking the producer for his "kind words".
"We won you, Blum!! Thank you so much for your kind words. #RRR" read the post.
Starring Ram Charan and Jr NTR in the lead, RRR follows a pre-Independence fictional story woven around two real-life Indian revolutionaries - Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem - in the 1920s. It also stars Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn in key roles.
Released theatrically last March, RRR raised reported earnings over Rs 1,200 crore at the global box office.
The Hindi version of the film premiered on Netflix on May 20, 2022 and soon became the most popular movie from India on the streamer globally.
Blum is the latest Hollywood celebrity to shower praise on RRR, joining the likes of Jessica Chastain, filmmakers Anthony and Joe Russo, Edgar Wright, Scott Derrickson, Joe Dante, James Gunn, Christopher Miller, screenwriters Jon Spaihts and C Robert Cargill.
The makers of RRR are currently gearing up for the Hollywood award season where its distributor Variance Films has mounted a substantial campaign to have the film recognised in the general categories at various ceremonies.
The movie is already under Oscar consideration after the film's hit track Naatu Naatu made it to the 95th Academy Awards shortlist for best original song, along with 14 others. The nominations for the Oscars will be announced on January 24.
Besides RRR, India's official Oscar entry Chhello Show, acclaimed documentary feature All That Breathes and documentary short The Elephant Whisperers, are part of shortlists for three other categories.
While Chhello Show is part of the international feature film shortlist, All That Breathes and The Elephant Whisperers are included in the shortlists of documentary feature and documentary short segments, respectively.
RRR is also nominated for two Golden Globes - Best Picture - Non-English and Best Song for 'Naatu Naatu'.
It has received five nominations for Critics Choice Awards—Best Picture, Best Director, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Song for 'Naatu Naatu', and Best Visual Effects.
And last week, the movie made it to the BAFTA longlist for Film not in English Language category. It shares space with All Quiet on the Western Front, Argentina, 1985, Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, Close, Corsage, Decision To Leave, EO, Holy Spider, and The Quiet Girl.
The 10 films will compete to secure a place in the final five for the BAFTA honour.
