The Academy Awards or Oscar awards as it is widely known, is a mega event and it sparks off enthusiasm and curiosity all around the globe. Every year, there is huge speculation on who will win the awards and these awards are considered to be the most prestigious film awards. This is also the most watched awards show in the world.
What it is
Oscars are awarded annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This was kick-started in the year 1929 in Los Angeles and since then, this has been acknowledged as the most coveted award presentation ceremony, recognizing talents in various departments of motion pictures. This includes acting, direction, art direction, animation, cinematography, costume design and screenwriting streams, among others.
The Oscar statuette
The Oscar statuette is otherwise officially known as the Academy Award of Merit. This award is made of gold-plated brittanium on a sparkling black metal base. The award depicts a knight standing on film-reel with a crusader's sword. There are five spokes as well and these symbolise the fundamental branches of the Academy namely actors, directors, writers, technicians and of course, the producers.
The gala event this year
The Academy Awards for 2006 recognizing exceptional film achievements were presented on Sunday, 25 February, 2007, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood and Highland Center.
As usual, the event was conducted in a large scale and witnessed swarming crowds.
And the winners are'
Performance by an actor in a leading role
Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Alan Arkin for Little Miss Sunshine
Performance by an actress in a leading role
Helen Mirren for The Queen
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls
Best animated feature film of the year
Happy Feet George Miller
Achievement in directing
The Departed (Warner Bros.) Martin Scorsese
Best documentary feature
An Inconvenient Truth (Paramount Classics and Participant Productions)
A Lawrence Bender/Laurie David Production Davis Guggenheim
Best foreign language film of the year
The Lives of Others A Wiedemann & Berg Production, Germany
Best motion picture of the year
The Departed Warner Brothers
Achievement in visual effects
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Adapted screenplay
The Departed (Warner Bros.) Screenplay by William Monahan
Original screenplay
Little Miss Sunshine (Fox Searchlight) Written by Michael Arndt
It was especially a dream come true for the fans of Martin Scorsese as the director is hailed as someone who is truly deserving of the coveted award but the honour was eluding him for a long time. In fact, when our own Gowtham Menon, cartoonist and film critic Madhan, film critic Baradwaj Rangan, cinematographer-director Rajeev Menon and actor Madhavan were questioned by a daily recently on who they thought should win the award for the best director, their unanimous choice was Martin Scorsese.
The entry from India, Water, missed the prestigious award. Nevertheless, we hope that Oscar soon translates into a reality for India. Whether Oscar is a yardstick has been debated the world over since a long time. But well, our point is clear. Whether it is the benchmark or not is a different issue altogether. The very fact that an Indian film wins an award at the International arena would simply mean that our films get more wide-spread attention and the Indian film industry, which is the largest in the world, could well get the recognition that it truly deserves, for we are replete with talents and technicalities and are competent on an International level.