The grand award season is finally over with the Oscars 2021 ending on a high note. Films like Nomadland, Minari, Promising Young Woman, Judas, and The Black Messiah were among the main headlines of the award ceremony. Amid all this, there was one heartwarming moment of the evening. In the ‘In Memoriam’ segment of Academy Awards the authorities paid tribute to the cinema’s shining stars.
Late Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan and Oscar-winning designer Bhanu Athaiya were the only Indian film personalities being honored in the ‘in Memoriam segment showcased at the 93rd Academy Awards ceremony held today at early morning Monday according to Indian Standard time. The two Indian personalities were given a 3-minute long tribute including other Hollywood actors like Chadwick Boseman, Helen McCrory and Sean Connery.
In the Memoriam, Slumdog Millionaire actress Frieda Pinto wrote an emotional tribute for her co-star Irrfan. She talked about her experience with the late actor and how admiring his work is. Frieda said, “ 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 its 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”.
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Actor Irrfan Khan passed away in April 2020 at his Mumbai residence at the age of 53 after a hard battle with a tumor. He earned global recognition with his work in ‘the warrior’, ‘the namesake’, ‘slumdog millionaire’, ‘the amazing spider-man, ‘life of pi’, ‘Jurassic world’, and ‘inferno’. Costume designer Bhanu Athaiya is the first Indian to win an Oscar for her work in ‘Gandhi’ in 1982. She had won the Oscar jointly with John Mollo. Bhanu passed away at the age of 91 in Mumbai.