Winning an Oscar is no easy feat. Hell, even getting nominated for an Oscar is impossibly difficult, especially if you are a non-American. Every year Oscars are handed to the achievements in filmmaking in 24 different categories. Out of those 24 categories, only one is for movies not released in US. So, for a foreign artist unless he or she has been hired to work on a film made or releasing in US, there is no chance for him or her to be even be eligible for an Oscar. With that in mind, now think again how difficult it is to get nominated for an Oscar. That’s also the reason why that in around 90 years of Oscars history, only 15 Indians have ever been nominated for (or won) an Oscar. Here’s the full list of names:
1. Mehboob Khan
Year: 1958
Film: Mother India
Category: Best Foreign Language Film
Result: Nominated
2. Ismail Merchant
Year: 1961
Film: The Creation of Woman
Category: Best Short Subject (Live Action)
Result: Nominated
Year: 1993
Film: Howards End
Category: Best Picture
Result: Nominated
Year: 1994
Film: The Remains of the Day
Category: Best Picture
Result: Nominated
Year: 1987
Film: A Room with a View
Category: Best Picture
Result: Nominated
3&4. Vidhu Vinod Chopra and K.K.Kapil
Year: 1979
Film: An Encounter with Faces
Category: Best Documentary (Short Subject)
Result: Nominated
5. Bhanu Athaiya
Year: 1983
Film: Gandhi
Category: Best Costume Design
Result: Won
6. Ravi Shankar
Year: 1983
Film: Gandhi
Category: Best Original Score
Result: Nominated
7. Mira Nair
Year: 1989
Film: Salaam Bombay!
Category: Best Foreign Language Film
Result: Nominated
8. Satyajit Ray
Year: 1992
Film: Honorary Award
Category: Received
9. Ashutosh Gowarikar
Year: 2002
Film: Lagaan
Category: Best Foreign Language Film
Result: Nominated
10. Ashvin Kumar
Year: 2005
Film: Little Terrorist
Category: Best Short Subject (Live Action)
Result: Nominated
11. Deepa Mehta
Year: 2007
Film: Water
Category: Best Foreign Language Film
Result: Nominated
12. Resul Pookutty
Year: 2009
Film: Slumdog Millionaire
Category: Best Sound Mixing
Result: Won
13. A.R.Rahman
Year: 2009
Film: Slumdog Millionaire
Category: Best Original Score
Result: Won
Year: 2009
Film: Slumdog Millionaire
Category: Best Original Song
Result: Won
Year: 2011
Film: 127 Hours
Category: Best Original Score
Result: Nominated
Year: 2011
Film: 127 Hours
Category: Best Original Song
Result: Nominated
14. Gulzar
Year: 2009
Film: Slumdog Millionaire
Category: Best Original Song
Result: Won
15. Bombay Jayashri
Year: 2013
Film: Life of Pi
Category: Best Original Song
Result: Nominated