In a move to add diversity following the #OscarsSoWhite and #MeToo movements, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences also known as the Oscars has extended invitation to as many as 928 members of the film fraternity from all around the world to join the Academy membership, which already has names like A.R. Rahman, Irrfan Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan from India. Among the Indian film celebrities to be invited this year are actors Shah Rukh Khan, Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit, Tabu, Ali Fazal, Nazeeruddin Shah, producer Aditya Chopra (Yash Raj Films), costume designer Manish Malhotra and others. If the invitations are accepted, then these names will add to diversity in the Oscars' voting pool, which until 2015 was believed to be dominated by a traditional all-white male panel.
Other Indian names that are already featured as new members of this voting pool are Gangs of Wasseypur musicians Usha Khanna and Sneha Khanwalkar, Secret Superstar cinematographer Anil Mehta, Dangal editor Ballu Salujaalso, Haider costume designer Dolly Ahluwalia, Bengali actors Soumitra Chatterjee and Madhabi Mukherjee, producer Guneet Monga and designers Subrata Chakraborty and Amit Ray.
The Oscars awards body hopes to improve its female membership from 28% to 31%, ethnic minority from 13% to 16% and voting participants to an all-time high of 9300 if all of this year's 928 invitations get accepted.