The remains of the night

Young take

In the wee hours of Monday, when TV screens showed the Hollywood fraternity walking the red carpet and cameras flashing, clicking the hottest designs in haute couture, many waited in excitement to know who would bag the Oscars.

The prestigious awards for performances in various fields varying from directing to acting, visual effects to sound mixing and documentaries to short films were looked forward to by many. Meanwhile, film buffs in the City share their thoughts about the awards and whether it went to the deserved person or film.

Youngsters like Pravan P, a final-year BA student of The Oxford College of Arts, who makes short films, says that director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, who bagged the ‘Best Director’ for ‘The Revenant’, deserved to be lauded for the same. “From his first few films like ‘Amores Perros’, his calibre as a director has been unbeatable. Alejandro’s vision is clear through his career graph. He really works hard for his films.”

He adds, “Rather than just taking a script and working on it, he takes inspiration from visuals that he saw from his young age and goes about the making of a film.”

Pravan says that every project Alejandro makes, the director puts his heart into it, which shows in the final product. “The story of ‘The Revenant’ is mostly about survival and to present such a story in a format that wins accolades is a talent in itself,” he says.

There are others who also pointed out that host Chris Rock (who also hosted the award ceremony in 2005) was humorous yet went a little offpath, with comments on racism.

Uday Habib, a young ad filmmaker, says, “Though racism is an issue that should be addressed, talking a lot about it also brings the issue back. Also, the jokes were not just focussed on ‘the blacks and the whites’ but also on  Asians, which wasn’t pleasant,” he says. Uday says that though all the awards were well-deserving, the humble speech by Brie Larson, who won the award of ‘Best Actress’ for ‘Room’ was awe-inspiring.

Sumukhi Suresh, a standup comedian, points out that it was nice to see Leonardo DiCaprio bag an award. “I was also very happy to see one of us, Priyanka Chopra up there though she had a weird accent,” she says. Sumukhi added that she had hoped that the movie ‘Trainwreck’ and Amy Schumer would at least have gotten nominated to the Oscars. “I was surprised that there was no mention of the movie or the actress. This trend of comedy movies only bagging Best Supporting Actor or Actress awards must stop. Why does one always have to perform depressed roles to win an Oscar?” she asks.

The Oscars night is never just about the awards that are won by the artistes but also about the messages shared onstage, the way the actors applaud other’s performances, the ‘thank you’ speeches and much more.

Tejas Shankar, a member of the band ‘Lagori’ says that the best thing about the Oscars this time wasn’t about who won but the acceptance speech that was delivered.
   
“More than Leonardo winning the Best Actor award, it was his speech which got him attention. The fact that he gave a message out to industries and polluters without concentrating on himself meant a lot. For once, the winner’s speech wasn’t about the performer or his life but was used as a platform for the indigenous people out there, climate change and humanity,” he says.

He adds that it was also a special award night as it recognised Ennio Morricone with the ‘Best Original Score’ award for ‘The Hateful Eight’.

“He is a legend and known for over 500 scores. For someone like that to finally get an Oscar, was a special moment,” says Tejas. The musician points out that Lady Gaga’s performance at the award night, was amazing. “Her performance of Oscar-nominated song ‘Til It Happens To You’ was a work on abuse, which turned many heads,” he says.