Oscar Awards 2023, nine days to go: A look at Indians who have graced the Academy stage

Oscars Awards 2023 9 days to go:Deepika Padukone is flying high. The Pathaanactress, who was selected as one of the jury members of the Cannes Film Festival last year, is all set to attend the prestigious 95th Academy Awardsas one of the presenters.

Deepika made the announcement on her Instagram account with the list of the Academy's first set of presenters, which included Dwayne Johnson, Michael B. Jordan, Riz Ahmed, Emily Blunt, Glenn Close, Troy Kotsur, Zoe Saldana, Samuel L. Jackson, Melissa McCarthy, Donnie Yen, Jonathan Majors, and Questlove.

Deepika's global representation

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With this big announcement, Padukone has given every Indian another reason to be proud of her. Presenting the Oscars is just another addition to Deepika's global achievements. Last year, Padukone became the first Indian to unveil the FIFA World Cup trophy, and before that, she had also been selected as one of the jury members of the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.

With her new feat, Deepika has made every Indian proud, but before her, there has been a bevy of Indian celebrities who have taken the prestigious Oscar stage, sometimes to present and sometimes as a winner.

Indians who have presented theOscars:

For the uninitiated, Deepika will be the third Indian to present the Oscar. Before her, actress Persis Khambatta was the first Indian to present an Oscar in the year 1980. Khambattais well-known for playing the role of Lieutenant Ilia in the 1979 film 'Star Trek'.

Wearing a glittery black dress with a high slit, she presented the award with the actor William Shatner. You can watch the video of Persis below here:

Priyanka's Oscar debut

After a long break of 36 years, Priyanka became the second Indian to present the award in 2016. After doing theseries Quanticoand appearing in a string of Hollywood films, Priyanka made her debut at the Oscars wearing a beautifulwhite Zuhair Murad gown.

She presented the Oscar for Best Film Editing.

Indian winners at the Oscars

After the list of Indian celebrities who took the Oscar stage to present the awards, now it's time to take a look at the Indians who took the Academy stage to receive the coveted trophy.

Bhanu Athaiya, the first Indian to win an Oscar

In 1983, designer Bhanu Athaiya became the first Indian to win an Academy Award. She took the prestigious award in the Best Costume Design category for 'Gandhi' (1982).

Satyajit Ray's virtual appearance on the Oscar stage

Renowned Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray was bestowed with an Honorary Awardat the 64th Academy Awards in 1992 for hiscontributions to the cinema.Due to his poor health, Ray was not able to attend the ceremony in person, but he made sure to send a video message to all his millions of fans.

The video message played at the Dolby Theatre showed the director in a hospital bed holding his Oscar statuette. He said, "It’s an extraordinary experience for me to be here tonight to receive this magnificent award, certainly the best achievement of my moviemaking career."

Ray passed away on April 23, less than a month after the Oscar ceremony.

For the uninitiated, Ray is the only Indian who has been honoured with an Academy Honorary Award.

Slumdog Millionaire's big win at the Oscars

In 2009, Danny Boyle's 'Slumdog Millionaire' dominated the Academy Awards. The movie told the story of a boy from the Mumbai slums. Out of 10 nominations, the film won 8 Academy Awards.

Among all the winners, Indian sound designer Resul Pookutty and Indian music composer AR Rahman took the golden trophy home. Pookutty won the award for best sound

Rahman also made history by becoming the first Indian to win two Academy Awards. He took the awards in the Best Original Song category for the smash hit song 'Jai Ho' and 'Best Original Score'.

Veteran musician Gulzar shared the Best Original Song trophy with Rahman,however, he was not able to attend the ceremony in Los Angeles.