Oscars: Alia Bhatt, Hrithik Roshan invited to join the Academy

Actress Alia Bhatt, actor Hrithik Roshan, casting directors Tess Joseph and Nandini Shrikent, costume designer Neeta Lulla, documentary filmmakers Shirley Abraham, Nishtha Jain and Amit Madheshiya, visual effects artists Vishal Anand and Sandeep Kamal, writer Sabrina Dhawan, and V Senthil Kumar, co-founder of the digital streaming company Qube Cinema Technologies, have all been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).

The artistes are among 12 working in the various Indian movie industries who have been singled out. A total of 819 artistes and executives from across the world have been invited by the Academy.

This year, the new membership is made up of 45% women, 36% under-represented ethnic/racial communities, and 49% international from 68 countries, including India. This is part of an ambitious goal set in 2016 to double the number of women and under-represented ethnic/racial communities by this year, which the Academy has already surpassed.

Academy president David Rubin said in a press release, “The Academy is delighted to welcome these distinguished fellow travellers in the motion picture arts and sciences. We have always embraced extraordinary talent that reflects the rich variety of our global film community, and never more so than now.”

Over the past few years, Indian film personalities like Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Zoya Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap, Ali Fazal and Soumitra Chatterjee have all been invited as members. While the Academy has only invited these artistes, they have to formally accept to join.

Next year’s ceremony has been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and will be held on 25 April 2021. The 93rd Oscars will also allow films released digitally to be eligible for awards consideration.