Indians at the Oscars: A brief history

Over the years, many Indian filmmakers, actors, and talents have made their presence felt at one of cinema's biggest nights. However, only a handful of Indians have won the coveted statuette.

The first Academy Award was won by Bhanu Athaiya, who bagged Best Costume Design in 1983 for the film ‘Gandhi’. The film, directed by Richard Attenborough, won eight Oscars that year including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Ben Kingsley, who played Mahatma Gandhi.

In 1992, Indian director Satyajit Ray won an honorary Oscar ‘in recognition of his rare mastery of the art of motion pictures, and of his profound humanitarian outlook, which has had an indelible influence on filmmakers and audiences throughout the world’.

Ray, who accepted the award from his hospital bed via video one month before his death, called it ‘the best achievement of my moviemaking career’.

In 2009, at the 81st Academy Awards, music composer A R Rahman and sound engineer Resul Pookutty won the award for their work on Danny Boyle’s film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. Rahman won two awards— Best Original Song for ‘Jai Ho’, which he shared with lyricist Gulzar, and Best Original Score, while Pookutty won for Best Sound Mixing.

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