By Shubham Singh (with inputs from Rigya Singh):
The real movie capital of the world throws the greatest wrap tonight!! Yes, we are talking of the Oscar night. And just some hours after, the curtains get off and you get to access the stars of ‘Hollywood’ on red carpet.
Of course, everyone’s familiar with the evening’s stunning fashion and the mesmerising acceptance speeches but every year this brings a lot of surprises and fun.
In India, if the film is bringing money, getting acclaimed and the film-makers are maintaining their self-respect, they do not bother to get an approval from a selected jury. Or maybe the tradition and culture depicted in Indian cinema is not of the parameters of the Oscar jury. Mother India (1957), Salaam Bombay (1989) and Lagaan (2002) all carry the prestige of being former nominees for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards, but unfortunately none of them succeeded in winning. Both Gandhi (1983) and Slumdog Millionaire (2009) in comparison won achieved glorious victory of eight awards each, including Best Picture.
Of all the 24 categories to be awarded this night, the nominations of main categories and winner predictions are as follows:
Best Picture:
o War Horse
o The Artist
o Money Ball
o The Descendants
o The Tree of Life
o Midnight in Paris
o The Help
o Hugo
o Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
And the winner is… probably ‘The Artist’. No other movie has the film pundits talking like it is happening for this movie.
Best Director:
o Michel Hazanavicius for ‘The Artist’
o Alexander Payne for ‘The Descendants’
o Terrence Malick for ‘The Tree of Life’
o Woody Allen for ‘Midnight in Paris’
o Martin Scorsese for ‘Hugo’
Prediction- Oh! Martin Scorsese, he so deserves it for moving out of his comfort zone to deliver a family friendly movie.
Best Leading Actor:
o Demian Bichir in ‘A Better Life’
o George Clooney in ‘The Descendants’
o Jean Dujardin in ‘The Artist’
o Gary Oldman in ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’
o Brad Pitt in ‘Moneyball’
The honour is perhaps going to be carried away by Jean Dujardin
Best Leading Actress:
o Glenn Close in ‘Albert Nobbs’
o Viola Davis in ‘The Help’
o Rooney Mara in ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’
o Meryl Streep in ‘The Iron Lady’
o Michelle Williams in ‘My Week with Marilyn’
The race is a close one between Viola Davis and Meryl Streep but inclination is towards the magnetic performance by Viola Davis for ‘The Help’.
Best Supporting Actor:
o Kenneth Branagh in ‘My Week with Marilyn’
o Jonah Hill in ‘Moneyball’
o Nick Nolte in ‘Warrior’
o Christopher Plummer in ‘Beginners’
o Max von Sydow in ‘Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close’
And the expected winner is — Christopher Plummer
Best Supporting Actress:
o Berenice Bejo in ‘The Artist’
o Jessica Chastain in ‘The Help’
o Melissa McCarthy in ‘Bridesmaids’
o Janet McTeer in ‘Albert Nobbs’
o Octavia Spencer in ‘The Help’
The talk is hovering around Octavia Spencer.
Best animated feature:
o A Cat in Paris
o Chico & Rita
o Kung Fu Panda 2
o Puss in Boots
o Rango
‘Rango’ is the most favoured one here.
The rest of the expected wins in various other categories are:
- Writing (Adapted Screenplay)- ‘The Descendants’
- Documentary (Feature)- ‘Undefeated’
- Foreign Language Film- ‘A Separation’
- Cinematography- Emmanuel Lubezki ‘The Tree of Life’
- Film Editing- Anne-Sophie Bion for ‘The Artist’
- Music (Original Score)- Ludovic Bource for ‘The Artist’
- Music (Original Song)- ‘Man or Muppet’, written by Bret McKenzie for ‘The Muppets’
- Sound Mixing- John Midgley for ‘Hugo’
- Sound Editing- Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty for ‘Hugo’
- Art Direction- Dante Ferretti for ‘Hugo’
- Costumes- Sandy Powell for ‘Hugo’
- Makeup- ‘The Iron Lady’
These names are most likely to win but do not be disheartened if you do not see your favourite name in here, luck can change as the night rolls on. After all, there is always some scope for upsets and unexpected wins.
It just might be the night for the silent black and while French film ‘The Artist’ that is slated to win. If Voila Davis and Octavia Spencer win in their respective categories, it will be the biggest win for African American actors since 2002 when Halle Berry and Denzel Washington won the Academy Award for Best Actress and Actor, respectively. But Voila Davis has competition from ‘The Iron Lady’ Meryl Streep herself. She has not won since 1983 but is the most frequently nominated actress (a whooping seventeen times with two wins). Time will only tell who will win otherwise we have Billy Crystal as the host. He will keep us all entertained in the wee hours of the morning. Keep your popcorns and fizzy drinks ready (or a lot of caffeine).