Superstars Ram Charan and Jr NTR along with four other members of the RRR team have been invited to be members of The Academy. On June 29, the fresh list of directors, actors and technicians, who have been invited as members of the elite club, was announced. Musician and Oscar winner MM Keeravaani, casting director KK Senthil Kumar, music director Chandrabose and production designer Sabu Cyril -- all part of the RRR team – also made it to the list of 398 members. Surprisingly, SS Rajamouli – the mind behind global hits like RRR and the Baahubali franchise – was not a part of the list. However, the filmmaker in a tweet congratulated fellow members of the RRR team that have been honoured with the invitation.
SS Rajamouli wrote, “Extremely proud that 6 members of our RRR team have been invited as members for The Academy Awards this year. Congratulations Tarak, Charan, Peddanna, Sabu sir, Senthil &Chandrabose garu. Also, congrats to the members from Indian Cinema who received the invitation this year :)”
In a statement, Jr NTR also congratulated team RRR for receiving the "well-deserved honour". The actor also congratulated other members of the Indian film fraternity who have received invitations from the Academy. In the statement, Jr NTR said, "It is such a proud moment for all of us in the RRR family that Ram Charan, MM Keeravaani, Senthil Kumar, Chandra Bose, Sabu Cyril, and I have been invited as members for The Academy Awards 2024. I extend my heartfelt congratulations to all of them for this well-deserved honour. I thank The Academy for bestowing this honour upon us. I would also like to congratulate my colleagues in the Indian film fraternity who have received invitations from the Academy as well ."
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) sent out around 398 invitations to popular and renowned personalities from the film industry, across the world, requesting them to join the panel. The Academy's Class of 2023 also featured filmmaker Mani Ratnam, Karan Johar, Siddharth Roy Kapur [producer of India's official Oscar entry Chhello Show], Shaunak Sen [director of the Oscar-nominated documentary All That Breathes] and Chaitanya Tamhane, among other names from the Indian entertainment industry. You can check the complete list here.
“The Academy is proud to welcome these artists and professionals into our membership. They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion pictures and on movie fans worldwide,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang.
Earlier this year, team of RRR made India proud by winning an Oscar in the Best Original Score category for the song Naatu Naatu.