Indian stars Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, filmmakers Goutam Ghose and Buddhadeb Dasgupta are among the 774 people, who have been invited to join the Academy and vote in the Oscars.
According to The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences website, the 2017 invitees come from 57 countries, with the list comprising 39% female.
Bollywood superstar Salman Khan, Irrfan Khan, Monsoon Wedding costume designer Arjun Bhasin, writer Sooni Taraporevala and documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan are among other invitees from India.
“We’re proud to invite our newest class to the Academy. The entire motion picture community is what we make of it,” Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Academy President, said in a statement.
“It’s up to all of us to ensure that new faces and voices are seen and heard, and to take a shot on the next generation the way someone took a shot on each of us,” he said.
Indian-origin visual effects director Mohit Kallianpur, behind animated films like Frozen and Tangled, is also on the list.
Elle Fanning is the youngest invitee at 19, while Betty White at 95 is the oldest.
The list of actors also includes Israeli actress and Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot, comedian Amy Poehler, Mr. Robot actor Rami Malek, Rogue One actor Riz Ahmed, Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth and Dwayne Johnson.
The directors on the list are Barry Jenkins, Jordan Peele, Kim Ki-Duk, Theodore Melfi, David Ayer, Emmanuelle Bercot, Fatih Akin, Derek Cianfrance, Patricia Cardoso, Garth Davis, Lav Diaz, Tom Ford, Anna Hui, Takashi Miike, and Guy Ritchie, among others.
While all big Bollywood celebrities have been invited, we wonder why Shah Rukh Khan has been left out, who is considered to be a global icon for Indian cinema.
(All Image Source: AFP)