88th Oscar Awards: Indian connection

Apart from Leonardo DiCaprio winning the Oscar, there was another reason why this year's Academy Awards were closely followed in India. As many as six Indians made their country proud this year at the Oscars. Here they are.

Priyanka Chopra

Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra is literally having the time of her life currently. Following the success of her movie ‘Bajirao Mastani’ back home, she made India proud internationally by impressing in the US television series ‘Quantico’. And now, she became the flag-bearer of her country by presenting the Oscars this year. But that’s not all. The Desi Girl has also recently bagged the prestigious role of a villain in the upcoming Hollywood flick, ‘Baywatch’.

Rahul Thakkar

Rahul Thakkar is another Indian technician to have won an Oscar certificate this year in the ‘Science and Technical Achievements’ category. He has given contribution to well-known Hollywood films like ‘Mission Impossible II,’ ‘AI – Artificial Intelligence,’ ‘Forces Of Nature,’ etc. Thakkar was born in the United Kingdom and brought up in Mumbai, India. During an exclusive interview with TimesOfIndia.com, he revealed that he is a true Mumbaikar at heart.

Asif Kapadia

Asif Kapadia’s ‘Amy’, based on the life and death of the celebrated singer Amy Winehouse, was nominated for the Oscars in the Best Documentary Feature category. And guess what? The film won the coveted trophy! 'Amy' competed against ‘Cartel Land,’ ‘What Happened, Miss Simone?,’ ‘Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom’ and ‘The Look Of Silence’. Kapadia is of Indian origin but born and brought up in the United Kingdom. ‘Amy’ had also won the ‘Best Music Film’ award at this year’s Grammys.

Sanjay Patel

Acclaimed artist Sanjay Patel was yet another Indian to make the country proud this year at the Oscar Awards. His film, ‘Sanjay’s Super Team’, which he has co-directed with Nicole Grindle, was nominated in the ‘Best Animated Short Film’ category. The film tells the story of an Indian-origin youngster in the US who comes in conflict with his father over his admiration for pop culture. The film competed against ‘We Can’t Live Without Cosmos’, ‘Bear Story’, ‘Prologue’ and ‘World Of Tomorrow’. The award was won by 'Bear Story'.

Cottalango Leon

Cottalango Leon is a technician from Indian origin from the Southern Tamil Nadu, who later relocated to Coimbatore. He won the Oscar certificate this year under the ‘Scientific and Technical Achievements’ category for his contribution to cinema through ‘groundbreaking design’. He has worked on films like ‘Spiderman’ series, ‘Men In Black’ series, ‘Hotel Transylvania’, ‘The Smurfs,’ ‘Cloudy With The Chance of Meatballs,’ ‘Open Season’ and ‘Stuart Little.’

Dev Patel

Dev Patel, the 'Slumdog Millionaire' star, also graced the Oscars this year. The actor of Indian origin seems to have grown into a man now as he presented the 'Best Documentary Feature' award. Co-incidentally, it was won by another person of Indian origin, Asif Kapadia, along with James Gay-Rees, for the film 'Amy'.