SRK, Madhuri among 20 Indians invited to join Oscars-awarding body
What's the story
In a continued push for diversity, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited a record number of 928 film personalities from 59 different countries to be its members. The list features twenty names from the Indian film industry including that of Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit Nene, Aditya Chopra, Anil Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Soumitra Chatterjee, Ali Fazal and Manish Malhotra.
Twitter Post
The Academy shared the list via Twitter
Our new member list is officially out! And Directors Branch governor Steven Spielberg has a message for all of those invited to join. https://t.co/LEv2huAGHn #WeAreTheAcademy pic.twitter.com/rGG1S2pjaw
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) June 25, 2018
Twitter Post
Ali was overwhelmed to have been selected by the Academy
Thank you @TheAcademy . #WeAreTheAcademy a record 928 members for the batch of 2018. Honoured!!!! pic.twitter.com/Hf7n6lYmUn
— Ali Fazal M (@alifazal9) June 26, 2018
Details
The list also contains names of Indian technicians
Apart from the aforementioned names, Cinematographer Anil Mehta, sound designers Debajit Changmai and Biswadeep Chatterjee and production designers Subrata Chakraborty and Amit Ray have also made it to the list. Music composers Usha Khanna and Sneha Khanwalkar, film editor Ballu Saluja, producer Guneet Monga and costume designer Debajit Changmai have received an invitation as well.
Context
The Academy's total strength is likely to rise to 9,226
The Academy has called for such a vast expansion of its panel after being subjected to heavy anti-diversity backlash in the past few years. If all the 928 invitees come onboard, the total strength of the Oscar-awarding body will be 9,226. This year, the 90th edition of the prestigious Academy Awards were held.
Information
Big B, Aamir, Priyanka, Deepika, Irrfan were invited last year
Last year, the Academy had invited Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Irrfan Khan, Deepika Padukone, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Mrinal Sen, Goutam Ghose and Sooni Taraporevala to be on its panel.