Zoya Akhtar, Anupam Kher, Anurag Kashyap, Ritesh Batra invited to join the Oscar Academy members

Filmmakers Zoya Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap and Ritesh Batra, as well as veteran actor Anupam Kher, are among the 842 artistes and executives invited as members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.The list included Indian celebrities like Made in Heaven director Zoya Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap for Short Film and Animation, writer Ritesh Batra, Veteran actor Anupam Kher he currently stars in the American medical drama series ‘New Amsterdam’ as a neurologist named Dr. Vijay Kapoor and Sherry Bhadra who did visual effects for Hichki and Sui Dhaaga and Srinivas Mohan for 2.0 ad Baahubali: The beginning. In the announcement, the  2019 class is 50 per cent women, 29 per cent people of colour, and represents 59 countries. Those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy’s membership in 2019 as per the tweet. The categories are- directing, writing, and producing. Next year’s Academy Awards will be held on February 9, 2020. In comparison to last year, if most of the invitations are accepted by the artists, The Academy will have 9000 members!In the prior years, Indian artist like Shah Rukh Khan, Aditya Chopra, Priyanka Chopra, Tabu and Anil Kapoor too have been invited to be a part of the prestigious awards The Academy.