ACADEMY INVITES 819 NEW MEMBERS

OSCARS ORGANISERS SAY NEW INCLUSIONS WILL ENSURE DIVERSITY

LOSANGELES: The Oscars body has invited 819 new members including Indian actors Alia Bhatt and Hrithik Roshan to join it, exceeding a goal set four years ago to diversify the group’s membership by 2020.

Also among invitees to be members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are several stars of the South Korean movie Parasite.

In February, Parasite became the first foreign-language film to win the Oscar for best picture. Other invitees, from 68 countries, include actors Awkwafina, and Ana de Armas.

The academy launched an effort to diversify its ranks after facing criticism in 2015 when the #OscarsSoWhite movement highlighted a lack of black actors nominated for the top awards.

With the new list, 33% of the academy’s 9,000-plus members are women and 19% come from racial or ethnic communities. The new invitees include 36% people of colour and 45% women.

Besides Bhatt and Roshan, the invitee list includes several Indian names, such as costume designer Neeta Lulla and casting director Nandini Shrikent.

Those who accept the invitation will have voting rights at next year’s Oscars.