Oscars 2021: Academy pays tribute to Irrfan Khan and Bhanu Athaiya in the Memorium segment

The Prestigious Academy paid tribute to the late Irrfan Khan and Bhanu Athaiya in the Memoriam segment. “It was a year of profound loss in so many ways. At the Academy, we remember these accomplished filmmakers and artists,” said the Academy as it remembered the artists we have lost the world over in the past year.

Indian artistes Irrfan Khan, and noted costume designer Bhanu Athaiya were remembered, alongside Chadwick Boseman and other Hollywood stalwarts. Veteran actor Soumitra Chatterjee is listed among the legends we have lost on the Oscars.org’s In-Memoriam page but did not make it to the video.

Bhanu Athaiya had won an Oscar for costume designing in 1982 for Gandhi. In 2012, Athaiya returned her Oscar to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for safekeeping. Athaiya had also won a BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design for the film. She died on 15 October 2020 from complications of brain cancer at a medical centre in South Mumbai, aged 91.

Actress Freida Pinto in her tribute to Irrfan on the In Memoriam page, shared her list of essential films of the actor, who passed away in April 2020. “There was simply no one like Irrfan Khan. His grace and dignity along with his monumental talent as an artist, actor – a portrayer of humanity in all it’s shapes and forms – made me not only have deep admiration for him but I instinctively wanted to emulate that grace in my career as well,” Pinto said.

Freida starred with Irrfan in Slumdog Millionaire. Last year also the Academy had paid a tribute to Irrfan after his death on April 28. “A mainstay of Bollywood cinema and incredible talent in films like Slumdog Millionaire, Life of Pi and The Namesake, Irrfan Khan left his imprint on global cinema. An inspiration to millions, he will be greatly missed,” the Academy had tweeted.

Apart from that they have featured him prominently in their video montage about ‘hope’ while battling the Coronavirus last year. The 93rd edition of Academy Award, also known as the Oscars, was held from two locations in Los Angeles — Union Station and Dolby Theatre. Anthony Hopkins and Frances McDormand were honoured with the Best Actor and Actress award respectively while filmmaker Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland was named the Best Film. Zhao won Best Director for the film.

Also Read: Ahead of Irrfan Khan’s first death anniversary, Shoojit Sircar remembers the late actor: I recall him as God’s special child