Oscar comes to town

With the ‘84th Academy Awards’ just over a week away, the Oscar frenzy is catching on everywhere.

Adding to the excitement are the authorities from the channel Star Movies, who have been on a four-city tour to get the masses up close and personal with the Oscars. And quite literally at that! The coveted golden statuette, which was won by renowned costume designer Bhanu Athaiya in 1983 for the film ‘Gandhi’, has been doing the rounds everywhere.

After New Delhi and Kolkata, this statuette has now come to namma City — Bangalore! What’s more it, came to the Deccan Herald office on M G Road on Friday and took everyone by storm.

Be it touching the statuette or posing with it, everyone was extremely excited to get an opportunity to stand next to the statuette. 

The first Indian to have won the Oscar, Bhanu Athaiya could not make it to the City at the last minute unfortunately. But her friend and associate Charu graced the office with her presence.

“I have known Bhanu since 1981, since the time I was working for an international airline,” recalled Charu. “She had designed two calendars for the company and I have known her since then,” she added. Charu had visited Kolkata prior to this as part of the Oscar tour and was excited to be in Bangalore. “It is a Garden City. It’s very impressive and it pays to have a promotional event here,” she noted.

Though she has closely known Bhanu for over three decades now, Charu admitted that every time she sees the trophy, she gets excited. “Every time I see it, I touch it,” she laughed.

Shedding more light on Bhanu Athaiya, she said, “She is a soft-spoken person who keeps a low profile. Whatever she designs, she gives her best to it. She has spoken to me of the times she sat with Raj Kapoor to design for his films and how he liked her ideas immediately.”

Now that the final countdown to the Academy Awards has begun, looks like the fans can’t get closer to the Oscar than this! On February 18, the statuette will be on display in PVR, Forum Mall from 10 am to 1 pm. While from 3 pm to 5 pm, fans can get close to the golden trophy at Landmark, Forum Mall. In addition, the channel will also be conducting an Oscar quiz in all the locations to engage with the fans.  

The ‘84th Academy Awards’ will be aired on February 27 at 6 am live followed by a repeat telecast at 8 pm on Star Movies.