The Oscars Are Ready For A Desi Invasion With Zoya Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap And Anupam Kher All Set To Join!
We are living in an exciting time in history. Our generation is bearing witness to major shifts in ethnic and gender roles. While there is still a long way to go, many industries are trying to move towards inclusivity and diversity. One of them is The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences… the organisation that gives out the most coveted awards for entertainers, The Oscars.
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FYI, The Oscars are given out after they are voted on by Academy members across different categories. Over the years, the academy has tried to add more diversity to this group of people, in order to make their brand appealing to the masses. It also helps if people of different cultures can join the conversation, there is so much talent outside of just Hollywood!
This year, the academy has picked out a good bunch from our side of the shore. Joining 842 other new members are filmmakers Zoya Akhtar and Anurag Kashyap and veteran actor Anupam Kher.
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Zoya Akhtar
The baller lady who has been making raw and relatable films for the young/restless youth of the country, she’s one of the names going to be making her voice heard. One half of the creative duo, Zoya wrote and created the dangerously underrated Made In Heaven with screenwriter Reema Kagti. She is also the visionary behind Ranveer Singh starrer Gully Boy and the hauntingly beautiful chapter with Bhumi Pednekar in Lust Stories. Do we sense a bit of contemporary Bombay finally making its presence felt in the Academy with Zoya? Sure hope so. Zoya has been invited in the Directors’ category, which a big achievement for female moviemakers everywhere!
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Anurag Kashyap
Aashiqs of world cinema rejoice, they are about to get a new set of eyes to judge their madness! This National Film Award recipient is the perfect example of this genre of cinema in India and we are always looking forward to his work (except for Bombay Velvet *wink*). Most recently, Kashyap brought the hugely successful Netflix series Sacred Games to our screens and it is exactly the kind of relatable, real entertainment that we have been craving for ages. As an academy member, Kashyap has been invited in the Short Films and Feature Animation category.
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Anupam Kher
Veteran actor and peak ‘dad energy’ on Twitter, Anupam Kher is no stranger to world cinema. As a film fanatic myself, I have come across this sweet man in the most unconventional of movies, one of them was a Chinese film! Kher seems to poised for a knockout second innings in his career, this time as a comedic actor in major Hollywood production (The Big Sick). We couldn’t think of a better mentor to run an acting school than Kher, it fits so well.
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Among other Indian invitees, we also have Lunchbox writer-director Ritesh Batra and Indian origin actor Archie Punjabi and Late Night director Nisha Ganatra. On the technical front, Sherry Bharda of Hichki fame and Srinivas Mohan, best known for his work on 2.0 and Baahubali: The Beginning have been invited for visual effects.
Congratulations to all the new invitees!
