Hollywood’s biggest award night Oscars 2022 returned with much excitement and glamour after a bleak two years. The event was held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, and saw some of the biggest names walk the red carpet. Like every year, the Academy paid tribute to several film personalities and artistes who passed away last year through its In Memoriam reel. The video that is played out during the ceremony paid tribute to some significant names from the global film industry such as Sidney Poitier, Betty White, and William Hurt among others. The segment, however, failed to honour the work and memory of two iconic Indian legends who passed away recently — actor Dilip Kumar and singer Lata Mangeshkar.
The Devdas actor passed away on July 7, 2021 and the singer died on February 6, 2022. Both personalities had significantly contributed to Indian cinema with an illustrious body of work in their respective fields. Their exclusion from the In Memoriam didn’t go down well with many in the field. Apart from several netizens, noted film critic Raja Sen also took to Twitter to share his thoughts. "The 'In Memoriam' segment really should have featured these two legends. Inexcusable omission. #TheOscars. (sic)," Sen tweeted
One of the netizens wrote, "#Oscars2022 #LataMangeshkar of #Bollywood fame – Nightingale of India – not even mentioned among the movie folks who passed away in the last year."
While the Oscars In Memoriam is not known for paying tributes to singers or musicians, it definitely includes actors. In the past, the Academy paid tribute to the late Sridevi, Irrfan Khan and Bhanu Athaiya.
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