Zoya, Anupam, Anurag, Ritesh among new Oscar Academy members

Express News Service |

Published: 02nd July 2019 01:44 PM

Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Anupam Kher

Indian actor Anupam Kher and filmmakers Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, and Ritesh Batra have been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Building on its push for global inclusivity, the Academy—which hosts the annual Oscar awards—has unveiled its list of invitees for the 2019 batch.

Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Anupam Kher

A total of 842 new members from 59 countries have been invited, half of whom are women. Persons of colour constitute 29 per cent of the new invitees, bringing their overall membership to 16 per cent in the entire Academy.

Anupam Kher, who has worked in both Bollywood and Hollywood productions (Silver Linings Playbook, The Big Sick), has been invited to the Actors branch.

Gully Boy-director Zoya will be joining the Directors’ category, while Anurag has been invited to the Short Films and Feature Animations branch.

Ritesh, best known for directing the films The Lunchbox and Photograph, is also on the list, alongside Indian-origin actor Archie Gupta and filmmaker Nisha Ganatra. Visual effects artists Srinivas Mohan (Baahubali, 2.0) and Sherry Bharda (Hitchki) have also been invited from India.