The Show Must Go On

The 93rd Academy Awards or the Oscars ceremony, all set to be held in the early hours of April 26, is going to be broadcasted from both Los Angeles Union Station and Dolby Theatre, in an effort to keep things remote. This year’s presenters will include Brad Pitt, Halle Berry, Harrison Ford, Joaquin Phoenix, Zendaya, and Parasite director Bong Joon Ho, among others. But while a live audience will be missing, the nominees have been invited to attend the event and there’s a strict dress code as well.

Malayalam actress Divinaa Thackur says, “Glamour in the show business is paramount, pandemic or no pandemic.” She is certain that if not in person, celebrities will show their “glamorous avatars” via social media. But absence of a live audience will stifle the presentation, fear many though actor and model Freddy Daruwala believes there will be fake audience audios, synchronized live claps and cheers.

But it is still about films, they say. Thackur and Daruwala, both wake up early every year to watch the show unfold. While for Thackur, it’s exciting to see who the panels deemed most worthy, Daruwala sits eagerly to see if the film he was rooting for wins.

Actress Pranutan Bahl is skeptical of this year’s show though. She says that it’s difficult for the energy of a live event to match that of a virtual or almost virtual event. But even if the vibe can’t be matched, there’s no reason to believe that the Oscars cannot be fun in a distanced medium. Thackur says, “The Oscar ceremony isn't ever going to lose its panache.”

Iconic Oscar Moments:

1. The La La Land- Moonlight Mishap

At the 2017 Oscars, the producers of La La Land went up on stage to receive their award for that year’s Best Picture. Turned out that Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, presenters for the award, had accidentally been given the wrong envelope. The actual winner was Moonlight.

2. Leonardo DiCaprio finally won an Oscar

After being nominated four times for the Academy Awards, Leonardo DiCaprio finally won an Oscar in 2016, after four earlier nominations. A victory long deserved, he won the Best Actor award for The Revenant. That was also when DiCaprio gave his famous acceptance speech, raising awareness about climate change. He was again nominated for Best Actor in 2020 for his role in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

3. Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to receive the award for Best Director

Until 10 years ago no woman had ever won the Academy Award for Best Director. Kathryn Bigelow broke the dubious 81-year-old record, when she won the award in 2010 for The Hurt Locker. Well, this year two women have been nominated for Best Director- Chloe Zhao for Nomadland and Emerald Fennell for Promising Young Woman.

4. Ellen breaks the internet

At the 2014 Oscars, Ellen DeGeneres took a selfie with some of the top Hollywood stars and posted it on Twitter. It broke US President Barack Obama’s record by becoming the most retweeted photo on the internet. Is there absolutely anything Ellen can’t do?

5. Spike Lee honoured Kobe Bryant at the Red Carpet

At the 2020 Oscars’ Red Carpet, director Spike Lee honoured the memory of late basketball player Kobe Bryant. He wore a purple and yellow outfit, that had Bryant’s jersey number 24 stitched on his coat’s back. In memoriam of a friend, the director’s gesture moved the viewers.