Several Indian individuals and films have received or been nominated for the Academy Awards (also known as the Oscars) in different categories. As of 2023[update], 20 Indians have been nominated and 10 have won Oscars including in the scientific and technical category.
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At the 30th Academy Awards, Mehboob Khan's 1957 Hindi-language film Mother India was India's first submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film category.[1] It was nominated alongside four other films and lost to the Italian film Nights of Cabiria (1957) by one vote.[2][3] In 1982, The National Film Development Corporation of India was instrumental in co-producing Richard Attenborough's biographical film Gandhi.[4][5] At the 55th Academy Awards, Bhanu Athaiya became the first Indian to win an Academy Award for designing the costumes.[6] Ravi Shankar was nominated for Best Original Score for the same film.[7] As of 2023, three Indian films have been nominated for Best International Feature—Mother India, Salaam Bombay! (1988) and Lagaan (2001).
In 1992, legendary Bengali filmmaker Satyajit Ray was bestowed with an Honorary Academy Award, becoming the only Indian to date to receive the honour.[8] Resul Pookutty and A. R. Rahman won the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing and Best Original Score, respectively, for the 2008 British film Slumdog Millionaire. Rahman also won for Best Original Song alongside lyricist Gulzar for the song "Jai Ho",[9] becoming the first Indian to date to have won more than one Academy Award. Rahman also holds the record for most nominations for an Indian with five total nominations to date, followed by Ismail Merchant with four nominations (three for Best Picture and once for Live Action Short).
At the 95th Academy Awards, three different Indian productions received Oscar nominations, with both RRR (feature film) and The Elephant Whisperers (Documentary short film) winning their respective categories and thus becoming the first Indian full length feature film and first Indian Documentary short film to win the Oscars.[10] Several Indians and Indian Americans have received the Oscars in the technical category like Rahul Thakkar, Cottalango Leon and Vikas Sathaye.
Honorary awards
| Year | Recipient | Note | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 (64th) | Satyajit Ray | "In recognition of his rare mastery of the art of motion pictures, and of his profound humanitarian outlook, which has had an indelible influence on filmmakers and audiences throughout the world." | [11] [12] |
Competitive Awards
Scientific and technical awards
| Year | Nominee(s)/recipient(s) | Category | Note | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Rahul Thakkar[a] | Academy Award for Technical Achievement | Shared the award with Richard Chuang | [30] |
| Cottalango Leon[b] | Shared the award with Sam Richards and J. Robert Ray | [31] | ||
| 2018 | Vikas Sathaye[c] | Shared the award with John Coyle, Brad Hurndell and Shane Buckham | [33] |
See also
- List of Indian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
- List of Indian winners and nominees of the Golden Globe Awards
- List of Indian winners and nominees of the British Academy Film Awards
- List of Indian winners and nominees at the Cannes Film Festival
- List of Indian winners and nominees of the Grammy Awards