

Vishal Bhardwaj reveals being excited to be invited to be a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts, and Sciences (AMPAS), the body that conducts the Oscar Awards ceremony. With this invitation he will be a voting member of AMPAS, being eligible to vote for the Oscar awards.
"I am deeply honored and excited to be invited to become a member of the Academy. It is a privilege to be part of the most prestigious platform for global cinema, and I look forward to participating in the Academy Awards voting processs," said the director.
Also part of the 2026 invitee list are renowned editors Sreekar Prasad and Deepa Bhatia. Costume designer Eka Lakhani, casting director Dilip Shankar, animation artist Avneet Kaur, production and technology experts Farah Khan and Rajesh Ramachandran, have been invited to be part of AMPAS.
Vishal Bhardwaj's latest release was the Shahid Kapoor actioner, O ‘Romeo. Amongst other things he is well known for his Indian adaptation of the works of William Shakespeare. Maqbool (2004), Omkara (2006), and Haider (2014), being adaptations of Macbeth, Othello, and Hamlet, respectively.