OBhanu Athaiya, AR Rahman and Resul Pookutty won the Oscars for India.
India’s tryst with the coveted Academy Awards dates back to 1957 when Mehboob Khan’s ‘Mother India‘ was sent as the country’s first official entry in the Best Foreign Language Film category. Every year since, India have been sending an official entry to the world’s most popular film awards, also famously called ‘Oscars’. Films like ‘Salaam Bombay‘, ‘Mother India‘, ‘Water‘ and ‘Lagaan‘ even made it to the final-five of the category. While the country is yet to taste success in the Best Foreign Language Film, there have been other technical categories where Indian artists have left behind their international counterparts. Costume designer Bhanu Athaiya became the first Indian to win an Oscar for Best Costume Design for 1982 release Gandhi.
With 90th Academy Awards just a day away, we list all the Indians who have won the coveted award:
1. Bhanu Athaiya: Best Costume Design
Bhanu Athaiya won the Oscars in 1983.
Bhanu Athaiya won an Academy Award for the costume design of 1982 historical drama Gandhi. Costume designer Bhanu managed to give the characters in British director Richard Attenborough’s Mahatma Gandhi biopic an authentic look. In her memoir The Art Of Costume Design, Bhanu mentioned how she was the only Indian working on the project in which all the heads of the department like the director, scriptwriter, cameraman, production and set designer came from England and she shared the costume department with John Mollo, the Oscar-winning costume designer of George Lucas’ cult classic Star Wars.
Bhanu Athaiya had designed costumes for Bollywood hits like CID, Pyaasa, Chaudhvin Ka Chand, Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam, Guide and many others,
2. Satyajit Ray: Honorary Award
The maverick filmmaker Satyajit Ray revolutionised the world of cinema and his first film Pather Panchali won many national and international awards. The Bengali film released in 1955 was honoured with 11 international awards, including Best Human Document at the Cannes film festival. Regarded as one of the finest filmmakers India has ever seen, Ray helmed classics like Charulata and Devi as well. In 1992, the writer, illustrator, publisher, filmmaker and film critic was given an honorary lifetime achievement award.
3. Resul Pookutty: Best Sound Mixing
Resul Pookutty with the golden statuette.
Sound engineer Resul Pookutty became the third Indian to bring Oscar glory for India by winning the golden lady for Best Sound Mixing in Slumdog Millionaire. Pookutty, while dedicating the trophy to a billion Indians, then said, “I dedicate this award to my country. This is not just a sound award but a piece of history that has been handed over to me.”
Later, at another award ceremony, Pookutty narrated the incident when he almost walked out of Slumdog Millionaire. He said he felt the Slumdog team wasn’t giving the sound its due importance. After a heated exchange with director Danny Boyle, Pookutty walked out of the film, only to be wooed back by the filmmaker. “It was a difficult project and Danny was very demanding. It put a lot of strain on me emotionally and physically,” recalled Pookutty.
4. A.R.Rahman: Best Original Score
AR Rahman became the first Indian to win two Oscars.
Music maestro AR Rahman became the first Indian to be nominated in three categories at the Academy Awards for his score in British-Indian movie Slumdog Millionaire. Among the three nominations, one was for original score and two for original songs (Jai Ho and O Saya).
Rahman scripted history in 2009 by becoming the first Indian to win two Oscars for the Best Original Score for Slumdog Millionaire and its foot-tapping song “Jai Ho”. The musician in his acceptance speech said, “Before coming here I was excited and terrified. The last time I felt that way was when I was getting married. There is a Hindi dialogue ‘mere pass ma hai’ which means even if I have got nothing I have my mother here. I want to thank her for coming all the way to support me.”
5. AR Rahman and Gulzar: Best Original Song
Gulzar penned the lyrics for Oscars wining song Jai Ho.
AR Rahman’s song “Jai Ho” penned by lyricist Gulzar won the coveted prize for Best Original Song at the 81st Academy Awards. Slumdog is based on a novel by Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup and starred Bollywood actors Anil Kapoor and Irrfan Khan among others. Boyle’s feel-good film depicted the moving story of a slum dweller Jamaal, who goes on to win USD 20 million on Indian reality show ‘Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?’ in a bid to win his love back. The film was shot at various locations in Mumbai.
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