Oscar Academy Invites Shahrukh Khan, Naseeruddin & Tabu Among 928 Members
Shahrukh Khan, Tabu and Naseeruddin Shah are among a record 928 new members invited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as the body behind theOscars seeks to enhance diversity.
Bollywood
Superstar
Shahrukh
Khan,
Tabu
and
veteran
actor
Naseeruddin
Shah
are
among
a
record
928
new
members
invited
by
the
Academy
of
Motion
Picture
Arts
and
Sciences
as
the
body
behind
theOscars
seeks
to
enhance
diversity.
In
an
annoucement,
the
Academy
said
the
new
members
will
increase
the
diversity
in
a
major
way
as
49
per
cent
of
its
invitees
are
female
and
38
per
cent
are
people
of
colour.
Artistes
from
59
countries
have
been
invited
as
members.
India
features
prominently
in
the
list
of
the
new
invitees
that
includes
female
stars
Tabu
and
MadhuriDixit,
Tabu's
'Viraasat'
co-star
Anil
Kapoor
and
actor
Ali
Fazal.
Veteran
Bengali
actors
Soumitra
Chatterjee
('Bridge')
and
Madhabi
Mukherjee
('Charulata')
are
in
the
list
of
invitees.
Yash
Raj
Films'
Aditya
Chopra
and
producer
Guneet
Monga
also
feature
in
the
list.
Cinematograper
Anil
Mehta,
best
known
for
his
work
in
Imtiaz
Ali's
Rockstar,
is
also
invited
so
are
costume
designers
Dolly
Ahluwalia
and
Manish
Malhotra.
Other
names
include
Subrata
Chakraborty
and
Amit
Ray.
Both
of
them
worked
in
Haider.
Dangal
editor
Ballu
Saluja,
musicians
Usha
Khanna
and
Sneha
Khanwalkar
of
Gangs
of
Wasseypur
represent
India
in
the
musicians
section.
Oscar-winner
A
R
Rahman,
actor
Irrfan
Khan,
Amitabh
Bachchan
and
Aamir
Khan
are
already
the
Academy
members.
The
Academy
has
been
actively
working
to
introduce
more
diversity
in
its
voting
to
avoid
a
controversy
like
2016
when
the
Oscars
were
dubbed
"white" for
failing
to
recognise
talents
of
colour.
The
Harvey
Weinstein
sexual
harassment
scandal
in
October
last
year
further
shaped
the
narrative
in
Hollywood
with
women
coming
forward
and
demanding
better
representation
through
#MeToo
and
Time's
Up
movements.
The
Academy
seems
to
have
taken
these
changes
in
consideration
by
diversifying
its
membership.