Bollywood has transcended Indian borders. Indian film personalities are not just popular in India, they have tremendous appeal internationally. Indian actors, directors and composers have a plethora of international awards which have cemented their legacy in global cinema. This edition, Corporate Citizen brings you notable Bollywood personalities and their international accolades
Amitabh Bachchan is perhaps the most iconic Indian actor and the most recognisable Indian actor abroad. Not only has he won a host of awards in the country, he has been the recipient of quite a few prestigious awards abroad. In 2001, he was honoured with the Actor of the Century award at the Alexandria International Film Festival in Egypt in recognition of his contribution to the world of cinema. Big B was honoured with the citizenship of the French town of Deauville in 2003. The actor was also presented the Moroccan Medal of Honour. In 2007, the actor was also awarded with the highest civilian honour of France, the Knight of The Legion of Honour, for exceptional work in the world of cinema and beyond. In June 2000, he became the first living Asian to have been modeled in wax at London's Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. On 27 July 2012, Bachchan carried the Olympic torch during the last leg of its relay in London's Southwark.
Priyanka Chopra has been winning hearts all over India due to her performances in films like Bajirao Mastani and Barfi, but it was her stint in the American TV show Quantico, which has given her the most International recognition. She won the Favourite Actress award at the People's Choice Awards 2016 held in Los Angeles, making her the first South Asian actress to win a People's Choice Award. This led to her bagging a number of International projects like Baywatch as well as the second season of Quantico. It definitely appears that Priyanka is set to be a regular on the international awards list for quite some time.
Anurag Kashyap is one of India’s most talented directors. His breakout film Gangs of Wasseypur has been a critical and commercial success both in India as well as around the world. Such is his mastery over the film noir genre that none other than thespian director Martin Scorsese is a fan of Anurag. Due to his strong international appeal, Anurag has been felicitated by the global film community His feature film debut Black Friday won the Grand Jury Prize at the 3rd Annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, and was a nominee for the "Golden Leopard" (Best Film) at the 57th Locarno International Film Festival.. In the year 2013, Anurag Kashyap was honoured with the Knight of The Order of Arts and Letters, the second highest French honour, for his efforts in promoting Indian Cinema across the world.
A R Rahman has long been recognized as a music prodigy in India, but post his work in Slumdog Millionaire, the entire world sat up and took notice of the maestro. Rahman has received countless adulations and awards internationally for his work in Music. In 2006, he received an award from Stanford University for his contributions to global music. In 2009, for his Slumdog Millionaire score, Rahman won the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music and two Academy Awards (Best Original Score and Best Original Song, the latter shared with Gulzar) at the 81st Academy Awards. He has received honorary doctorates from Middlesex University, Aligarh Muslim University, Anna University in Chennai and Miami University in Ohio. His work in 127 Hours won him Golden Globe, BAFTA, and two Academy Award nominations (Best Original Music Score and Best Original Song) in 2011. A street was also named in his honour in Markham, Ontario, Canada in November 2013.
Shahrukh Khan is not just the Baadshah of Bollywood, he is also the king of international awards. A rare species of orchid, Ascocenda Shah Rukh Khan, was named after him in Singapore. In 2004, Time magazine selected him as one of 20 "Asian Heroes" under the age of 40 and featured him on the magazine's cover. In the same year, he also won the British Asian Guild Award for Best Actor of the Decade 2005. He was also featured on the cover of the Asian edition of the National Geographic magazine twice, February's issue . In 2007, He was awarded the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of the Arts and Literature) by the French government for his “exceptional career” in cinema.
Satyajit Ray is widely regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century. Not only is he revered in India, filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, James Ivory, Abbas Kiarostami, Elia Kazan, François Truffaut, Carlos Saura, Isao Takahata, Wes Anderson, Danny Boyle and many other noted filmmakers from all over the world have been influenced by his cinematic style, while many others such as Akira Kurosawa have praised his work. He is a Bharat Ratna winner in India, and has been felicitated with multiple laurels internationally. At the 11th Moscow International Film Festival in 1979, he was awarded with the Honorable Prize for the contribution to cinema. At the Berlin International Film Festival, he was one of only three filmmakers to win the Silver Bear for Best Director more than once and holds the record for the most number of Golden Bear nominations, with seven. At the Venice Film Festival, where he had previously won a Golden Lion for Aparajito (1956), he was awarded the Golden Lion Honorary Award in 1982. That same year, he received an honorary "Hommage à Satyajit Ray" award at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival. Ray is the second film personality after Chaplin to have been awarded an honorary doctorate by Oxford University. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded Ray an Honorary Oscar in 1992 for Lifetime Achievement. It was one of his favourite actresses, Audrey Hepburn, who represented the Academy on that day in Calcutta. He was posthumously awarded the Akira Kurosawa Award for Lifetime Achievement in Directing at the San Francisco International Film Festival. In 1992, the Sight & Sound Critics' Top Ten Poll ranked Ray at No. 7 in its list of ‘Top 10 Directors" of all time, making him the highest ranking Asian filmmaker in the poll .
By Neeraj Varty
