Kajol, Suriya, Pan Nalin, Sushmit Ghosh, Rintu Thomas, Reema Kagti invited to join the Academy

Kajol, Suriya, Pan Nalin, Sushmit Ghosh, Rintu Thomas and Reema Kagti have been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). The Indian artistes and filmmakers are among 397 who have been named as members of the prestigious organization.  

While Kajol and Suriya have been asked to join the actors' branch, filmmaker Pan Nalin has been invited to join the directors' branch. Ghosh and Thomas are recent Oscar nominees for their acclaimed documentary Writing With Fire and will be joining the documentary branch. Filmmaker Reema Kagti has been asked to join the writers' branch.

The Chhello Show (2021) filmmaker Pan exclusively told Cinestaan, “I feel honoured and empowered. Somehow many years ago I chose a path that was difficult and unwalkable. Today is a glory day. What I did in my solitude finally echoes in multitudes. Thank you, Academy for believing in my cinema and encouraging me to go on. I am super excited about this new beginning. A new journey commences today.”

This year, the AMPAS has invited 71 Oscar nominees, including 15 winners from the 94th Academy Awards; 44% of the new class of invitees comprise women, underrepresented ethnic and racial communities comprise 37% while 50% are from 53 countries and territories outside the United States.

In the past, Amitabh Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Zoya Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap, Alia Bhatt, Hrithik Roshan and Vidya Balan were invited to join the Academy.