Actor Vidya Balan, film producer Ekta Kapoor and Ekta Kapoor’s mother Shobha have been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the year 2021. The three are among 395 new members invited this year by the Academy. “It's time to announce our new members! Meet the Class of 2021,” the Academy announced in a tweet on its official handles. The Academy has said that this includes artistes and executives from 50 countries who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures.
Vidya Balan, who was recently seen in Amazon Prime Video movie ‘Sherni’ joins the class of 2021, which also features Hollywood big names such as Janet Jackson, Robert Pattinson, Henry Golding and others. Meanwhile, mother-daughter duo Ekta Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor, who have produced Hindi movies The Dirty Picture, Udta Punjab and Once Upon a Time in Mumbai, to name a few, have been named in the producers’ list.
Other nominees who have been invited to the Academy are Oscar nominees Yuh-Jung Youn, Emerald Fennell, Dan Janvey, Maria Bakalova, Jon Batiste, Andra Day, Vanessa Kirby, Darius Marder, Christina Oh, Kemp Powers, Paul Raci and Steven Yeun
Releasing an official document, the Academy wrote that from the class of 2021, 46 per cent identify as women, 39 per cent are underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, and 53 per cent international artists from 49 countries outside of the United States.
The list of invitees also includes Disney chief Bob Chapek, UTA chief Jeremy Zimmer, Apple TV+ chiefs Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg, Entertainment Studios head Byron Allen, Skydance Media chief David Ellison and Netflix director of original animation and family features Janet Wu.
The Academy said the number invited to membership was limited to roughly half that of recent years, to “enable steady future growth and to ensure the necessary infrastructure, staff resources and environment to support all Academy members.” The Academy’s Board of Governors voted on branch-specific guidelines to be applied in determining this year’s new membership invitees.
From Indian film industry, Oscar-winner A R Rahman, megastar Amitabh Bachchan, superstars Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan, as well as producers Aditya Chopra and Guneet Monga already are Academy members.
With PTI inputs