Come 2018 and you will witness Indian cinema's A list actors, directors and writers among global celebrities representing world cinema at the Oscars.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Indians on the list of 744 new members have been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organises the prestigious Oscar awards.
Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Irrfan Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and Aishwarya Rai have made it to the list of actors. Mrinal Sen and Goutam Ghose have been invited for the directors' category, while Sooni Taraporevala and Buddhadeb Dasgupta have been included to the list of writers.
Costume designer Arjun Bhasin has also made it to the list. Furthermore, documentary filmmaker, Anand Patwardhan has been invited to be a member. The sound designer, Amrit Pritam Dutta has also been invited.
According to the report, “that number is more than the record 683 invitations that were issued in 2016 and well above the 322 invites that went out in 2015 as the Academy has made a concerted effort to diversify its membership ranks by bringing in more women, people of color and filmmakers from around the world.”
Membership to the academy that organises Oscars every year, is by invitation only. The Academy has been avidly working on allegations of a lack of diversity in race and gender in its membership and with their latest decision, it is safe to assume that it aims to recognise talent from across the world.
The report added, “seven of the Academy branches — actors, casting directors, costume designers, documentary, executives and film editors — invited more women than men,” the criterion that candidates have to meet is, they must have “demonstrated exceptional achievement in the field of theatrical motion pictures”.
Indians who have been invited to be members in the past include AR Rahman, Sharmila Tagore, Resul Pookutty and Freida Pinto.