This Monday morning, like most of the world I will not be watching the live telecast of the annual Academy Awards. Viewing (and simultaneously judging) the red carpet shenanigans of overpaid and overindulged, entitled white people had its glory days in the '90s (1998, the year Titanic swept nominations and was a global ratings bonanza - viewership has been spiraling down and circling the drain ever since).
In the wake of the pandemic, it seems wrong to spend Monday morning (Hong Kong time) in pajamas, munching leftovers and watching television when there's deadline afoot.
I've written about the Oscars and India before (monetising my guilty viewing pleasures? Yes please!), but this morning was thinking of the largest film industry in the world... and its shocking lack of gold-plated over-hyped bowling ball trophies. With hundreds of films released and seen annually in the subcontinent, Bollywood is not an industry that relies or thrives on the tacit approval of western critics - who often cannot stomach musicals nor have the bladder control to sit through three-hour-yarns. Pfft. Weak.
At an editorial meeting the other day (or was it year?), someone asked me point blank, how many Oscars has India won? Er...
Why think, when you can Google?
Only eight Indians have won the coveted award in the 90 year history of Indian cinema, namely;
Bhanu Athaiya, the first Indian to win an Academy Award, for costume design for Gandhi in 1982.Satyajit Ray received an Honorary Oscar in 1992, a Lifetime Achievement award presented by (the truly divine) Audrey Hepburn no less. Tragically, the great film maker was on his death-bed and wasn't able to attend the ceremony. He passed away a month after the show at age 70.
A.R. Rehman, a double win for the 'Mozart of Madras', for Jai Ho, Best Original Song, Slumdog Millionaire (2009) and Best original score for the same film.
Gulzar, the noted writer, poet and lyricist, and AR Rahman won an Oscar for Best Original Song for Jai Ho at the 81st Academy Awards. Gulzar wrote the lyrics - unfortunately, he did not attend the awards function and missed the media maelstrom that got festooned upon Rahman instead.
Resul Pookutty, won for Best Sound Mixing, along with Richard Pryke and Ian Tapp, for Slumdog Millionaire. Rahul Thakkar and Cottalango Leon are Indian-Americans who were two of the 33 recipients of Academy Award for scientific and technical achievement in 2016.
Vikas Sathaye won an Academy Award in 2018 for Technical Achievement, an honour he shared with John Coyle, Brad Hurndell and Shane Buckham.
Doesn't look like there'll be another name on the roster for quite some time - in 2020, India's entry to the Oscars was the Malayalam film Jallikattu, directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery, in the Best International Feature Film category. Unfortunately, on February 10 earlier this year, it was announced that the film didn’t make the cut.
As the pandemic rages on in the region, with cinemas closed, large film productions halted, with Indian stars of all stripes struck down with covid - there are other more pressing worries and causes for concern than the momentary tension of "And the winner is..."
