Like every year, the Oscars 2021 ‘In Memoriam’ section paid tributes to filmmakers and artists who left the world in 2020 and Irrfan Khan and Bhanu Athaiya were the Indian film personalities honoured in the video montage showcased at the 93rd Academy Awards ceremony on early Monday morning according to India time.
Hollywood actors Sean Connery and Chadwick Boseman were also among many others that the Academy remembered in the special tribute segment. Oscar nominee Angela Bassett gave a speech with the tribute, which was shown in the form of a video clip and was a homage to achievers the world of screen lost over the past year, including actors, writers, directors, and technicians.
Soon after the video featured on internet, Bollywood fans noticed that late Rishi Kapoor and Sushant Singh Rajput were absent from the list, and their fans on social media expressed displeasure on their absence.
However, both the late Bollywood stars were remembered on the website of the Academy Awards in a special In Memoriam section. Late Sushant's brother-in-law, Vishal Kirti took to twitter to share a screen shot of the website's gallery featuring the 'Kedarnath' actor.
Meanwhile, veteran actor Anthony Hopkins, who portrayed an ageing man battling dementia in The Father", won the Best Actor award. The octogenarian was not present at the ceremony or on video, and his award was accepted by the Academy on his behalf. Others nominated in the category were the late Chadwick Boseman,Mads Mikkelsen, Riz Ahmed, Steven Yeun and Gary Oldman.
"Nomadland" actress Frances McDormand won Best Actress. She was competing against Viola Davis, Andra Day, Vanessa Kirby and Carey Mulligan.
Oscars 2021 were held from two locations in Los Angeles -- Union Station and Dolby Theatre. Dolby Theatre has been a venue for Oscars since 2001. However, this year, the live audience capacity was limited to 170 people and the guests were rotating in and out of the ceremony.