SS Rajamouli to Shabana Azmi: Fresh list of Indian stars invited to join The Academy

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have announced the new lot of invites for the Class of 2024. Among the 487 new members, there were several Indian names including RRR director SS Rajamouli, veteran actor Shabana Azmi, and Village Rockstars director Rima Das. (Also read: RRR writer says Naatu Naatu's Oscars win not ultimate, gives example of Everything Everywhere All at Once)

The Academy membership

The new list, released on June 25 by The Academy, includes 71 Oscar nominees, including 19 winners. Among the Indian stars who were invited to join The Academy were actor Shabana Azmi, directors Rima Das, SS Rajamouli, cinematographer Ravi Varman, costume designers Rama Rajamouli and Sheetal Sharma, and Anand Kumar Tucker, documentary filmmakers Nisha Pahuja and Hemal Trivedi, producer Ritesh Sidhwani, and choreographer Prem Rakshith.

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Shabana Azmi is one of the most revered actors in Indian cinema, known for her work in parallel cinema. She is also the only actor to have won the National Award for Best Actress five times. SS Rajamouli took the world by storm with his last release RRR, which ultimately won the Oscar for Best Original Song for Naatu Naatu. The choreographer of the song Prem Rakshith is also one of the invitees this year.

Hemal Trivedi is a well known documentary filmmaker, whereas Nisha Pahuja made the Academy Award nominated documentary film To Kill a Tiger last year. Ritesh Sidhwani is one of the co-founders at Excel Entertainment.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang said, “We are thrilled to welcome this year’s class of new members to the Academy. These remarkably talented artists and professionals from around the world have made a significant impact on our filmmaking community.”

The official website claimed that the 2024 class has members where “44% identify as women, 41% belong to underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, and 56% are from 56 countries and territories outside the United States.”