83rd Annual Academy Awards

The Father of Cinema Louis Lumière said "The cinema is an invention without a future".

Louis Lumière forgot that Cinema was The Future of Entertainment. It has been 116 years since Lumière brothers made their first motion picture and The Magic of Cinema continues to enthrall more and more as the days go by.

The Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, was first held on May 16, 1929 at Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywood. The Academy Award is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers. Quality takes the upper hand over Quantity here. Academy Awards stay true to their words and recognize the best unlike the awards in India. India holds the record for making the highest number of films in the world every year and yet fails to recognize the best.

Like every year, I was up by 6 am to watch the beauties in their designer clothing sway on the Red Carpet at the Kodak Theater. The first half hour was a thorough disappointment this year with Rajeev Masand trying to analyse the movies on the Red Carpet. Abhishek Bachchan and Ashutosh Gowariker’s interview during Oscars was so out of place. Who wants to analyze a movie or ask every celebrity the same question of what should a first timer do at the Oscars? You are in the midst of the beauties of this world you moron, just blend in and enjoy. Don’t you know Scarlett Johansson, Nicole Kidman, Mila Kunis, Warren Beatty, Natalie Portman, Reese Witherspoone, Sandra Bullock that you never bothered to interview them? The bimbos from Zoom tv would have done a better job on the Red Carpet. Rajeev, I rate you a ½ star (½ for interviewing Ash) for spoiling my Oscar time.
After witnessing some great hosts like Steve Martin, Billy Crystal, Whoopie goldberg and Alec Baldwin, James Franco and Anne Hathaway were not upto the mark hosting the 83rd Annual Academy Awards, though I should say, Anne looked stunning each time she came on the stage in a different costume. The beginning was awesome with a video of James and Anne appearing in all the 10 nominated movies. And post that it was downhill. And to salvage the not so great hosting, they had to get the funny and classy Bob Hope (visually created), who holds the record for hosting Oscars 18 times, and Billy Crystal. - King’s speech took the Top Honours with Best Picture, Best Director (Tom Hooper), Best Actor (Colin Firth) and Best Screenwriter (David Seidler) of their 12 nominations.
- Sci-fi thriller Inception shone with Awards for Sound mixing, Sound editing, Visual effects and Cinematography.(Well in Indian movie industry, they have no idea what these mean)
- Svelte Natalie Portman was adjudged as Best Actress in Black Swan
- The Social Network won three awards for Best film editing, Best music (original score) (Rahman needs to try different tunes to stay in the race next year) and Best writing (adapted screenplay).
- Christian Bale and Mellisa Leo won the Best Supporting actor and Actress for their role in The Fighter.
Baba Ranchchoddas words came true at the Oscars, “Kaamyaabi ki peeche mat bhaago, Excellence ke peeche bhaago, success jhak maar kar apne aap peeche bhaagegi,”

It was pure joy to watch excellence being rewarded with success. And the three hours of shimmer and shine, glitz and glamour has made my day. See you next year at the Oscars.

Think About It: Most Bollywood movies would be nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for lifting stories from Hollywood