VIDYA BALAN, EKTA KAPOOR INVITED TO ACADEMY’S ‘CLASS OF 2021’

WASHINGTON: The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has announced the list of 395 artists and executives that have been invited to join this year. Bollywood actor Vidya Balan and producers Ekta Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor are among the new list of invitees of the Academy’s ‘Class Of 2021’.

Other newcomers include Oscar winners Yuh-Jung Youn, Emerald Fennell and Florian Zeller. Celebrities like Andra Day, Henry Golding, Vanessa Kirby, Robert Pattinson and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II have also been invited to join this year. The Academy announced the names of the 395 invitees on their website. Their tweet read, “It’s time to announce our new members! Meet the Class of 2021. #WeAreTheAcademy.”

The Academy recognised Vidya for some of her iconic films such as the 2012 mystery thriller ‘Kahaani’ and the 2017 family drama ‘Tumhari Sulu’.

Vidya’s acting credits also include movies like ‘Paa’, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’, ‘Parineeta’, ‘Bobby Jasoos’, ‘The Dirty Picture’, ‘Shakuntala Devi’, among several others.

Meanwhile, producers Ekta and her mother Shobha, who own the production house Balaji Telefilms, have been recognised by the Academy for bankrolling films such as ‘Dream Girl’, ‘Once Upon A Time In Mumbai’, ‘Udta Punjab’ and Vidya’s ‘The Dirty Picture’.

Eight people have been invited to join multiple branches of the Academy. These include Leslie Odom Jr, Florian Zeller, Shaka King, Alexander Nanau, Emerald Fennell, Lee Isaac Chung, Craig Brewer, and Kaouther Ben Hania.

This year, the Academy has invited 395 people, about half the number of last year’s class, when it invited 819 members, reported Variety. The Academy said in a statement, “To enable steady future growth and to ensure the necessary infrastructure, staff resources and environment to support all Academy members, the number invited to membership was limited to roughly half that of recent years.”