Guneet Monga returns to India post Oscar win, massive crowd welcomes her with hugs and garlands. Watch

Producer Guneet Monga, who won an Oscar for her documentary The Elephant Whisperers, is back in India after attending the 95th Academy Awards in Los Angeles. At the Mumbai airport, during the early hours of Friday, Guneet received a warm welcome from a huge crowd including her friends and fans. She also spoke to reporters stationed outside the airport. (Also Read | TikToker shows how Guneet Monga was cut off at Oscars while others were allowed to go on)

In a video that emerged online, Guneet was seen being welcomed in the traditional way–with garlands, tika (mark on the forehead), and a plate with sweets and a small lamp. Flower petals were also showered on Guneet as people thanked her. She also nodded and expressed her gratitude to the people who came to welcome her at the airport. Several people also hugged her as she smiled.

Guneet was seen in a green-coloured satin shirt and matching pants. She also opted for a long black coat and matching boots. Expressing happiness about the historic win at the Oscars, Guneet told news agency ANI, “We had big competition. There was another film in our category supported by Malala (Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai). Our film worked across countries, ages…the kind of love we are getting from across the world, the film worked its magic.”

Guneet and director Kartiki Gonsalves scripted history at Oscars 2023 as their project The Elephant Whisperers won the Best Documentary Short Film statuette. The 41-minute documentary narrates the tale of two orphaned elephant calves put in the care of mahouts, Bomman and Bellie in Tamil Nadu’s Mudumalai Tiger Reserve.

After the win, Guneet shared her first reaction on Twitter and wrote, “We just win the first ever Oscar for an Indian Production! Two women did this! I am still shivering.” The Elephant Whisperers was nominated against Haul Out, How Do You Measure A Year, The Martha Mitchell Effect, and Stranger At The Gate.

This is the second Oscar for Guneet. Her first Oscar was in 2019 for the documentary short film, Iranian American filmmaker Rayka Zehtabch’s Period: End of Sentence, which follows a group of local women at Kathikera village in Hapur, Uttar Pradesh, as they learn how to operate a machine that makes low-cost, biodegradable sanitary pads, which they sell to other women at affordable prices.

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