Alia Bhatt, Hrithik Roshan Invited To Join Oscars Academy List Of 819 New Members

Bollywood stars Alia Bhatt and Hrithik Roshan have been invited to join the new list of members at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. When they accept the invitation, they will have the rights to vote for the 93rd Academy Awards, scheduled for April 25 next year. The list was announced after considering diversity factors and a wider representation following a backlash during the 2016 Academy Awards when a distinct amount of white nominees was noted and called out.

Besides Alia and Hrithik, among a total of 819 new film personalities from around the globe, the 2020 invitees from India include documentary filmmakers Nishtha Jain (Gulabi Gang, Lakshmi and Me) and Amit Madheshiya  (The Cinema Travellers, Searching for Saraswati), designer Neeta Lulla (Jodhaa Akbar, Devdas), writer Sabrina Dhawan (Kaminey, Monsoon Wedding), casting director Nandini Shrikent (Gully Boy, Life of Pi), visual effects supervisors Vishal Anand (War, Bharat) and Sandeep Kamal (Panipat, Jal). These artists will be able to vote across categories at the Academy Awards.

The official Twitter handle of the Academy shared the news with the caption: "Say hello to our brand new class of Academy members."

Say hello to our brand new class of Academy members. #WeAreTheAcademy https://t.co/jRJWPQYH1Y

— The Academy (@TheAcademy) June 30, 2020

The organisers of the Oscars released a list of new invitees, which includes 36 percent people of colour and 45 percent women. A goal was set to “double the number of women and underrepresented ethnic/racial communities by 2020”, the Academy said in a statement.

What You Should Know

• Alia Bhatt and Hrithik Roshan are invited to join the new list of members at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
• The Academy has over 9,000 members and now they are pushing towards diversity.
• The 2020 invitees include “45 percent women, 36 percent underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, and 49 percent international from 68 countries”.
• These members will get to vote across categories at the Academy Awards.

The decision was made after acknowledging Alia's performances in films like Gully Boy (which was India's official entry for the 2020 Oscars) and Raazi.

Also Read: I Thought My Struggle With Depression Was Over. And Then Lockdown Happened

Debate on nepotism

Filmmaker Hansal Mehta called out the Academy’s decision and tagged it ‘Nepotistic Academy’. Taking to his official Twitter handle, Mehta claimed that star kids are gaining momentum repeatedly and slammed the organisers for inviting to Alia and Hrithik.

Nepotistic Academy. https://t.co/fuP24IY4fZ

— Hansal Mehta (@mehtahansal) July 1, 2020

Also Read: Neither Undervalue Nor Overvalue Myself: Alia Bhatt

Feature Image Credit: Wikicommons

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