“Back to School”: Oscar-winning producer Guneet Monga revisits school with alumnus Shaunak Sen

New Delhi [India], April 21 (ANI): What binds producer Guneet Monga and documentary maker Shaunak Sen apart from the fact that they both contested for the Oscars this year? It’s the fact that they went to the same school!

Guneet took to Instagram on Thursday to share a beautiful picture in front of her school where she was joined by the Principal and Shaunak Sen.

Guneet captioned it, “What are the odds? Two Bluebells alumni made it to the Oscars this year! 21 years ago, I graduated from Bluebells School International. And 21 years later, we stand with the same Principal who nurtured us–an actual full-circle moment. Thank you Ma’am Suman Kumar. We grew up admiring your tenacity, leadership, and grace. It’s an honour to represent our school and relive the memories, and experiences that played a pivotal role in making me who I am today. Being able to do all this side by side with @shaunak_sen is a double treat! Back to school!”

Fans loved the post of Guneet. One wrote, “This is the best Oscar moment for India. Hip Hip Hurray for bluebells school and the city of Delhi.” Another one wrote, “A proud moment indeed”.

Helmed by debutant Kartiki Gonsalves, the 41-minute short documentary movie explores the tentative yet precious bond between Raghu, an orphaned baby elephant, and his caretakers – a mahout couple named Bomman and Bellie – who devote their lives to protect him from poachers, and raise him.

The project, which is backed by Guneet’s banner Sikhya Entertainment, beat four other contenders to clinch the Oscar in the Best Documentary Short Category, making it the first Indian documentary.

This is the second Oscar win for Guneet. She had previously served as an executive producer on ‘Period. End of Sentence’, which won the 2019 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film.

Shaunak Sen’s documentary film ‘All That Breathes’ also bagged a nomination at the 95th Academy awards but unfortunately couldn’t win the trophy.

‘All That Breathes’ follows siblings Mohammad Saud and Nadeem Shehzad, who have made it their lives’ mission to rescue and treat injured birds, especially the Black Kites. It previously won the ‘World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary’ at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, a film gala that promotes independent cinema and filmmakers, and earned the Golden Eye award for the best documentary at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.

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