Oscars 2024: All the South Asian Moments

The 96th annual Academy Awards took place on March 10, 2024 at Los Angeles’s Dolby Theater. 

Audiences saw Oscar winner Ben Kingsley pay tribute to nominee, and later winner, Cillian Murphy for his titular role in Oppenheimer; filmmaker Wes Anderson win his first Oscar for the short The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, starring Dev Patel and Ben Kingsley; Riz Ahmed walk the red carpet with a red pin to represent calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza; and many other moments. The producer of the awards ceremony included Raj Kapoor (not that one).

There were also several South Asian nominees or part of nominated films, including The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar for Best Live Action Short; Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse for Best Animated Feature Film; Elemental, for Best Animated Feature Film; Nimona for Best Animated Feature Film; To Kill a Tiger, for Best Documentary Feature; Barbie for Best Picture (among others); The After for Best Live Action Short; Red, White and Blue for Best Live Action Short.

By the end of the night, Oppenheimer — about the scientist who helped invent the atomic bomb and whom the Bhagavad Gita deeply influenced — swept seven awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, and Best Film Editing. 

Without further ado, here are just some of the South Asian moments of the 2024 Academy Awards.