For music composer Devi Sri Prasad aka DSP, winning the National Film Award for Best Music Director (Songs) for Pushpa: The Rise (2021) “means a lot”. However, he feels it could have also won an Oscar had it been sent for consideration. 

“I don’t know why it wasn’t sent to the Academy, but I think if we had, it would have been considered and something good might have happened,” says the 44-year-old. The film has tracks such as Oo Antava and Saami Saami, which went viral pan-India.

Nevertheless, he is happy that S S Rajamouli’s RRR (2022) made the right noise at the global stage and adds, “The way he took Indian cinema to another level with the Oscar is brilliant.”

Is getting an Oscar his next mission? “I never had any goals like that,” he says, adding, “I learned from my guru (late mandolin player Uppalapu Srinivas) to stay rooted. Being a musician is a blessing, and the awards are just a bonus.”