Mar 11, 2026 10:21pm IST
Inside The ‘South Asians at Oscars’ Celebration: A Night For South Asian Storytellers (EXCLUSIVE)
South Asian creatives and industry leaders gathered at Rideback Ranch, Los Angeles for the fifth annual ‘South Asians At The Oscars 2026’ pre-Oscar celebration, an evening recognizing the community’s growing presence and influence in Hollywood ahead of the 98th Academy Awards.
The event hosted by Anjula Acharia, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Aziz Ansari, Bela Bajaria, Anita Chatterjee, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Shruti Ganguly, Zakir Khan, Smriti Mundhra, Suraj Sharma, Shamina Singh and Geraldine Viswanathan, brought together filmmakers, actors, executives and storytellers to honor this year’s Oscar nominees of South Asian descent.
Building stories
Co-hosts Anita Chatterjee, CEO of A-Game Public Relations, and Shruti Ganguly, a filmmaker and writer, opened the evening noting their love for storytelling, community-building, and highlighting the event’s non-profit partnerships with organizations like Equality Now, Asian American Writers’ Workshop and William Morris Endeavor, with additional support directed toward firefighters and Altadena Community Preservation Fund. Actor and Producer Utkarsh Ambudkar encouraged collaborations by saying, “Use the room. Use your peers. We are here to build stories that matter. Tokenism can be something of the past.”
Chatterjee told Variety India the gathering continues to celebrate the growing number of projects centered on South Asian stories in television and film.. “It means so much to me. We’re seeing more content around South Asian narratives being created,” she said, adding she is excited to see South Asians “have a voice and a presence at this year’s Oscars.”
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Comedian Zakir Khan, who will be touring the US over the next few months including Radio City Music Hall in New York, expressed his joy and pride in seeing the “space that South Asians have not only created for themselves but for other South Asians in this field.”
Voices that matter
The celebration recognized Oscar nominees, including filmmaker Geeta Gandbhir, who made history in 2026 as the first woman to receive Academy Award nominations for both Best Documentary Feature for “The Perfect Neighbor” and Best Documentary Short for “The Devil Is Busy”. Filmmaker Alexandre Singh (French Indian) was recognized for Best Live Action Short Film nominee “Two People Exchanging Saliva”.
Gandbhir spoke about the political themes within both of her films and their timely resonance, emphasizing the importance of solidarity across communities. She expressed, “In some ways, we stand on the backs of the Black community and the freedom struggle. We are here because of their work.” She started her career in narrative film working for Spike Lee and Sam Pollard.
Singh shared a personal story about his immigrant father initially not accepting his career choice as an artist, reflecting on what he described as the “precarity of being in a society” working in the arts. He hopes to see more South Asian creatives in all areas of the industry continue to grow, especially on the Oscar stage
Nominees and creatives connected to films including Sinners (Sev Ohanian; Producer), Train Dreams (Ashley Schlaifer; Producer), among others were also in attendance.
Other guests included Anirudh Pisharody (“9-1-1”), Anjali Bhimani (“Ms Marvel”), Avantika Vandanapu (“Mean Girls”), Danny Pudi (“Community”), Devika Bhise, Jay Shetty, Kapil Talwalkar (“The Burbs”), Lilly Singh, Liza Koshy, Manish Dayal (“The Resident”), Poorna Jagannathan (“Deli Boys”), Lara Raj (of Katseye), Rhea Raj, Supriya Ganesh (“The Pitt”), Suraj Sharma (“Life Of Pi”), Taha Shah Badussha among others.
Musical acts Raghav Mani and Filip Nikolic of Naya Beat Records kept the attendees entertained..
The 98th Academy Awards will take place March 15, 2026 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
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