Hrithik Roshan & Alia Bhatt To Get Voting Rights At Oscar Awards 2021 If They Accept Invitation
Eight hundred and nineteen new artistes and executives have been invited to join Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Among them are Bollywood stars Alia Bhatt, Hrithik Roshan and costume designer Neeta Lulla. Those who accept the invitation will have voting rights at the 93rd Academy Awards, scheduled to be held on April 25, 2021.
Other prominent Indian names to receive invitations are casting director Nandini Shrikent, documentary filmmakers Nishtha Jain, Shirley Abraham, Amit Madheshiya, visual effects supervisors Vishal Anand and Sandeep Kamal.
In a statement, the Academy said the new invitees include 36 per cent of people of colour and 45 per cent women. Artistes from 68 countries have been invited as members. Seemingly, the Academy has been actively working to introduce more diversity in its voting to avoid controversies. In 2016, Oscars were dubbed "white" for failing to recognise talents of colour.
"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," Academy President David Rubin said.
The 2020 batch boasts of major Hollywood names like Cynthia Erivo, John David Washington, Constance Wu, Zazie Beetz, Florence Pugh, Zendaya, Awkwafina, Yalitza Aparicio, Mackenzie Davis, Ana de Armas, Adele Haenel, Thomasin McKenzie, Olivia Wilde and others. The stars of multiple Oscar-winning South Korean movie Parasite -- Jang Hye-Jin, Jo Yeo-Jeong, Park So-Dam and Lee Jung-Eun -- are among the invitees.
In 2019, the organisation had invited 842 new members which included Indian names such as filmmakers Zoya Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap and veteran actor Anupam Kher. Furthermore, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had invited Shah Rukh Khan, Naseeruddin Shah, Tabu and Madhuri Dixit in 2018.
