In a bid to add diversity in what has traditionally been a voting pool dominated by white males, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has now extended an invitation to as many as 774 people, which has a significant number of women and people of colour in it.
The move is a result of the viral hashtag #OscarsSoWhite, an unofficial campaign that started online after the 2015 and 2016 Oscars, which didn't have a single nomination for a Black actor in the acting categories.
Here are the Indian actors who've been extended a nomination:
1. Aamir Khan
2. Priyanka Chopra
3. Deepika Padukone
4. Irrfan Khan
5. Salman Khan
6. Amitabh Bachchan
7. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
The invitation is restricted not only to actors. Among the directors are -- Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Mrinal Sen, Goutam Ghose, Sooni Taraporevala, documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan, costume designer Arjun Bhasin, and noted sound designer Amrit Pritam Dutta.
Internationally, Elle Fanning (19) is the youngest member to be invited on the Oscar's list while Betty White, 95, is the oldest. Women now consist of 28 per cent of the overall membership while 13 per cent are people of colour.
Nonetheless, it's a step in the right direction, with the Academy on the path to make good on its word of doubling the number by 2020.
"All of our members are professionals at the top of their forms, every last one of them. And I believe that they vote based on their knowledge of particular skill sets , and that's what they look for," AMPAS President Cheryl Boone Isaacs told Deadline.com
However, not everybody is pleased with the move. The Hollywood Reporter's awards columnist, Scott Feinberg noted that though the move is well-intentioned, it's pretty misguided, saying, "It lends credence to the outside accusations that the Academy's nominations in 2015 and 2016 were problematic in the first place."
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