Bollywood actors invited to join Oscar Academy

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released a list of over 700 names who have been invited to join the prestigious film body this year. The announcement was made on Wednesday. Actors Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone have been invited to be a part of the Oscar Academy’s “Class of 2017”. Directors like Mrinal Sen, Buddhadeb Dasgupta and Goutam Ghose are also among the Indians invited. Irrfan Khan and Salman Khan, Indian costume designer Arjun Bhasin, directors and writers like Anand Patwardhan and Sooni Taraporevala are also part of the list. In a statement on the Oscars official website, Ms Isaacs says, “We’re proud to invite our newest class to the Academy. The entire motion picture community is what we make of it. 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.” The list of actors also includes Monica Belluci, Gal Gadot, Chris Evans, Jon Hamm, Tom Felton, Rupert Grint, Dwayne Johnson and others from Hollywood. Maleficent actress Elle Fanning, 19, is the youngest invitee for this year while veteran actress Betty White is the oldest at 95. Meanwhile, the list of probable new members comprises of 39 per cent female invitees, while people of colour dominate 30 per cent of it. “From 2015 to 2017, there has been a 359% increase in women invited to join the academy,” the Academy added.