Sharmila to be Oscar Academy’s member

Veteran actor Sharmila Tagore, Slumdog Millionaire star Freida Pinto and director Deepa Mehta feature among Indian-origin film personalities invited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to be part of its new class of members.

The Academy invited a record 683 new members  as it aims to diversify following criticism of its largely white and male membership.

Apart from Tagore, Pinto and Mehta, British filmmaker of Indian origin Asif Kapadia who bagged the Best Documentary Feature Oscar for Amy is also there. The diversity push was in response to the #OscarsSoWhite uproar that took place earlier this year. 

“We are proud to welcome  new members to the Academy, and know they view this as an opportunity and not just an invitation”, Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs said.