Tamil celebs react to Oscar Awards 2020 and Parasite's historic win 

TS Suresh, Editor

Usually, the Oscars feel biased, so much so that people have lost hope in the awards. I was personally rooting for Parasite and there are a couple of reasons why the win is significant. First, it is a reassurance that the Oscars aren’t just for English films. We don’t know if a similar opportunity will come again where a film is universally hailed. Also, Parasite’s victory will open more doors in the US, and get more takers to distribute non-English films. Traditionally, the Best Picture has fast cuts, or has old-school film language like Green Book. But Bong’s films have an ensemble cast and have a different style altogether. This is also a push for filmmakers to explore unconventional styles more.

Arunkumar Boyidapu, VFX artist in 1917

It was very heartening to see my name in the end credits of 1917. Parasite truly deserved the win. The way the film dissects the class differences reflects the society and is truly a movie which is one of its kind. Roger Deakins, who won the award for cinematography, was also a clear favourite. That film was also a movie that was truly unique, and I’m glad it won the award for VFX as well.

Barath Neelakantan, Director

The results were almost similar to what I predicted. Every year, Oscar passes a political statement and Parasite, you know, would be the winner. Its win is significant. Kamal Haasan sir, in recent years, said, instead of fighting for the best foreign film category, we should make a film in USA with Americans; as otherwise, we're just tourists. AR Rahman sir achieved it to an extent, but Parasite, being a non-English film, went way beyond that. This year's Oscars proved that language is not a barrier. For the first time, we have a female score winner (Hildur Guðnadóttir) and Natalie Portman making a statement by wearing a cape that was embroidered with the names of the female directors snubbed at the Oscars were some of the best moments.

Mukund Ambarish Manivannan (music composer of Hollywood film, Interconnect and music producer of Netflix Original, Leila)

Now, a new gate has been opened. One need not be in the US or Hollywood to win the Best Picture Award anymore. In the future, if there is a good Tamil or Hindi film that is well-made and marketed by the right people in the right way, Oscar dreams are possible to any artists and technicians from any part of the world. Parasite was made in South Korea entirely, and so, cinema is becoming one. Industries are merging which is a good sign.

Nelson Venkatesan, Filmmaker

I am a big fan of Roger Deakins. 1917 is one film where the camera is closest to the story. The single-shot technique literally takes us along with the lead actors and to the middle of the action. It must have been extremely difficult to choreograph the sequence and bring this visual seamlessly. I am also glad that Joaquin Phoenix won for Joker. With the Batman films, I admired The Joker character. But Phoenix made me understand The Joker. It takes a new level of comprehension to understand an antagonist and justify the same, organically with honesty. He truly deserves this.