Karan Johar, Ram Charan, Jr NTR, Mani Ratnam to Join Global Celebrities at Prestigious Academy

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, known for its annual Academy Awards ceremony, The Oscars, has announced their fresh list of 398 new members joining them this year. Among international stars such as Taylor Swift and Ke Huy Qwan, several Indian names also made it to the list.

Desi names include RRR actors Jr NTR and Ram Charan, producer Karan Johar and Siddharth Roy Kapur, directors Mani Ratnam and Chaitanya Tamhane, music directors MM Keeravani and Chandrabose, casting director KK Senthil Kumarand documentary maker Shaunak Sen. 

Also on the list are Bela Bajaria (Netflix), Rafiq Bhatia (music), Andrij Parekh (The Zookeeper's Wife), Shivani Pandya Malhotra (Red Sea Film), Shivani Rawat (ShivHans Pictures), Girish Balakrishnan, Kranti Sarma (production and technology), Haresh Hingorani, P.C. Sanath (visual effects).

The list includes 6 stars from RRR, however, SS Rajamouli's name was left out from the list.The Academy now has more than 10,000 members. These members will have various roles including, but not limited to voting for the nominees for the annual Oscars ceremony.

Of the 2023 class, the academy now has 40 percent women, 34 percent belong to underrepresented ethnic and racial communities, and 52 percent are from 50 countries and territories outside the United States.

The apex body of the Hollywood film industry, the Academy issues a single round of invitations annually. Only Academy members can vote for Oscar winners. Next year's Oscars are set to take place on March 10.