One of the most awaited award events of the year have finally happened! The 88th Academy Awards, or the Oscars as we like to call them, are indeed a fantasy tale for every cinema lover with the who’s who of Hollywood including names like Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kerry Washington, Sylvester Stallon, Priyanka Chopra (the only B-Towner) and many more gathered under one roof.
After a temperature soaring red carpet, we were treated to a really fun and entertaining event hosted by Chris Rock who went out of his way to take several digs at the #OscarsTooWhite controversy.
Here’s the list:
– Best Picture – ‘Spotlight’
– Best Actor in a Leading Role – Leonardo DiCaprio for ‘The Revenant’
– Best Actress in a Leading Role – Brie Larson for ‘Room’
– Best Directing – Alejandro G. Inarritu for ‘The Revenant’
– Best Original Screenplay – Tom MacCarthy and Josh Singer for ‘Spotlight’
– Best Adapted Screenplay – Charles Randolph and Adam McKay for ‘The Big Short’
– Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Alicia Vikander for ‘The Danish Girl’
– Best Costume Design: Jerry Beavan for ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’
– Best Production Design: Collin Gibson and Lisa Thompson for ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’
– Best Makeup and Hairstyling – Lesley Vanderwalt, Benicio Del Toro and Jennifer Garner for ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’
– Best Cinematography – Emmanuel Lubezki for ‘The Revenant’
– Best Film Editing – Margaret Sixel for ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’
– Best Sound Editing – Mark Mangini and David White for ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’
– Best Sound Mixing – Chris Jenkins, Gregg Rudloff and Ben Osmo for ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’
– Best Visual Effects – Andrew Whitehurst, Paul Norris, Mark Ardington and Sara Bennett for ‘Ex Machina’
– Best Short Film (Animated) – Gabriel Osorio and Pato Escala for ‘Bear Story’
– Best Animated Feature Film – Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera for ‘Inside Out’
– Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Mark Rylance for ‘Bridges of Spies’
– Best Documentary (Short Subject) – Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy for ‘A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness’
– Best Documentary (Feature) – Asif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees for ‘Amy’
Indo-British filmmaker Asif Kapadia won the best documentary Oscar for “Amy”, a poignant examination of singer Amy Winehouse’s life and her tragic death at the age of 27.
Kapadia, who has already won the Golden Globe and Bafta awards for the documentary, paid tribute to Winehouse, who died in 2011 following a battle with drug and alcohol that was gleefully captured by tabloids.
“Really, this film is all about Amy, this is all about showing the world who she really was: not her tabloid persona, the beautiful girl, the amazing soul, funny, intelligent, witty, someone special, someone who needed looking after. We just wanted to make a film to show the world who she really was,” Kapadia said while accepting his Oscar trophy.
Producer James Gay-Rees said the award was for all the fans and followers of Winehouse, whose support she always wanted.
“…this is for the fans, Amy’s fans who loved her through thick and thin, that’s all she ever really needed,” Gay-Rees said.
Kapadia’s documentary saw off competition from “Cartel Land”, “The Look of Silence”, “What Happened Miss Simone?”, “Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom”.
Kapadia, 44, is known for directing “Senna” in 2012 and Irrfan Khan-starrer “The Warrior” in 2003.
Finally, Leonardo DiCaprio wins best actor for his performance in “The Revenant”
Five nominations and 23 years later, Leonardo Di Caprio’s cold streak at the Oscars finally came to an end as he won the best actor trophy for his role of a wounded fur trapper seeking revenge in “The Revenant”.
The actor’s role in the Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu- directed 1823-set film was gritty and thrilling, a territory DiCaprio has not dabbled too much.
The superstar, in his lengthy speech thanked his co-star Tom Hardy, director Inarritu for his cinematic vision and all the filmmakers, including his frequent collaborator Martin Scorsese, who helped him navigate through his career.
DiCaprio, a keen environmentalist, also took the opportunity to discuss climate change and its impact on planet.
“Last I want to say this, making ‘The Revenant’ was about man’s relationship in the natural world… Climate change is real. It is happening right now. It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species and we need to work together and stop procrastinating,” he said.
A self-declared vegetarian, DiCaprio, for his role of 19th-century American frontiersman Hugh Glass, a rugged mountain man fighting for survival, had to guzzle a live fish, and tuck into a bison liver.
The actor shot for six months in the inhospitable Canadian wilderness. Whether it was going in and out of frozen rivers, or sleeping in a horse carcass, DiCaprio’s real-life ordeals were no less challenging than the character he played on screen.
DiCaprio complimented Emmanuel Lubezki’s breathtaking cinematography. The actor might have had Tom Hardy as a co-star, but nothing could steal the spotlight from the 41-year-old star.
The odds were in favor of DiCaprio right from the beginning of the awards season as the actor was the toast of the Golden Globes and SAG Awards.
At the Oscars, he was nominated for best actor along with Bryan Cranston (‘Trumbo’), Michael Fassbender (‘Steve Jobs’), Eddie Redmayne (‘The Danish Girl’) and Matt Damon (‘The Martian’).
Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra’s debut Oscar outing in a white elegant strapless gown has impressed Indian fashion designers and colleagues from the film industry.
The former Miss World, 33, who rose to fame internationally with last year’s ABC thriller “Quantico”, opted for Lebanese designer Zuhair Murad’s piece for presenting the best editing Oscar. She chose to keep her look minimal in a neat pony tail and diamond accessories.
National-award winning designer Neeta Lulla tweeted, “Looking lovely and graceful @priyankachopra at the Oscars. Congratulations for your achievements. God bless.”
Chopra has been making mark on red carpet this awards season.
At the People’s Choice Awards in January (where she received the award for best actress in a new television series), the Indian actress sparkled in a sequined take on the color block trend by Vera Wang.
Later at the 22nd annual SAG Awards, the “Bajirao Mastani” star turned heads in a pink Monique Lhuillier strapless gown.