Elevated levels of tropospheric ozone (O3) can harm plants by inhibiting growth and production thereby posing a threat to environmental health and food security. As a consequence, developing novel strategies for crop protection against ozone has become critical. Ethylene diurea (EDU), is one of the most effective protectants, frequently utilised in various studies; nevertheless, the efficacy of other protectants is yet unknown. As a result, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of EDU, neem coated urea (NCU), and ascorbic acid (AsA) in reducing ozone stress (100 ppb) in ozone tolerant (Anna (R) 4) and sensitive rice cultivar (TRY (R) 2) grown in an open top chamber. The results show that applying protectants was extremely beneficial in enhancing physiological characteristics and lowering malondialdehyde and proline levels in both rice cultivars, with the impact being significantly greater in TRY (R) 2 than in Anna (R) 2. The addition of 1% NCU increased the photosynthetic rate in Anna (R) 4 by 23.80 and 54.78%, respectively. In ozone tolerant and sensitive cultivar, the photosynthetic rate (20.15 and 50.21%), stomatal conductance (15.78 and 37.14%), and chlorophyll content (36.63 and 60.72%) were all increased by 1% AsA treatment. Moreover, in O3 sensitive cultivar, application of 1% NCU and AsA reduced MDA by 35.63 and 31.41%, and proline by 40.8 and 36.64% respectively. To conclude, the current study revealed that besides EDU, NCU and AsA are also superior in terms of protecting the plants from ozone stress.