New Delhi-based short film 'Anuja' earns nomination for Best Live Action Short at Oscars 2025
New Delhi, Jan 23 (PTI): "Anuja", a New Delhi-set short film, on Thursday bagged a nomination in the Live Action Short category at the 97th Academy Awards.
"Anuja", directed by Adam J Graves and Suchitra Mattai, is pitted against “A Lien”,“I’m Not a Robot”, “The Last Ranger” and “The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent” at the awards gala.
The nominations for the 2025 Oscars, which were twice postponed earlier this month due to wildfires in Los Angeles, were announced by Bowen Yang and Rachel Sennott.
"Anuja" follows a gifted nine-year-old Anuja, who must make a choice between education and factory work alongside her sister - a decision that will shape both their futures. It stars Sajda Pathan and Ananya Shanbhag.
The film has two-time Oscar winning producer Guneet Monga on board as executive producer and Hollywood star-writer Mindy Kaling as producer.
It is produced in collaboration with the Salaam Baalak Trust (SBT), a nonprofit founded by filmmaker Mira Nair's family in support of street and working children, alongside Shine Global, and Krushan Naik Films.
Recently, actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas boarded the project as an executive producer.
Besides "Anuja", "I Am Ready, Warden" is another movie with an India connect.
Nominated in the Documentary Short Film category, the film is directed by Indian-origin American filmmaker Smriti Mundhra.
"I Am Ready, Warden" is about Texas death row prisoner John Henry Ramirez who seeks redemption from his victim’s son in the days leading up to his execution in 2022.
The film is produced by Mundhra, Maya Gnyp, Keri Blakinger and Nina Anand Aujla.
Other nominees in the Documentary Short Film category are "Death by Numbers”,
"Incident”, “Instruments of a Beating Heart” and “The Only Girl in the Orchestra”.
Mundhra was earlier nominated in the same category for her film "St. Louis Superman" at the 2019 Oscars.
Many in India were looking out for Payal Kapadia's critically-acclaimed film "All We Imagine As Light" to bag a nomination at the Oscars but that didn't happen.
The film, which was overlooked as India's official entry in the Best International Feature category of the Oscars, charted history by becoming the first Indian title to win the Grand Prix Award at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2024.
"All We Imagine As Light" is nominated for the Best Film Not in English Language at the 2025 BAFTA Film Awards.
The 2025 Academy Awards will be held on March 2 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
Anuja has been nominated for the 97th Oscars in the Live Action Short Film category! ✨
— IMDb India (@IMDb_in) January 23, 2025
The movie follows 9-year-old Anuja, a gifted girl working in a garment factory in Delhi. When she’s given a rare chance to go to school, she faces a life-changing decision—one that could… pic.twitter.com/4U4pWAi2TK
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Bengaluru: Man held for killing uncle over house dispute, tried to pass it off as accidental death
Bengaluru (PTI): A 22-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly killing his uncle following a dispute over vacating a house and attempting to pass off the death as accidental, police said on Wednesday.
The accused has been identified as Masroor Ahmed.
The victim, Inayath Pasha, was living alone on the ground floor of his sister’s house in Austin Town on a lease basis. Police said he had a disability in his left leg due to polio since birth, and earned his livelihood as a two-wheeler mechanic.
According to the complaint, on the evening of March 1, Pasha’s son visited him at home and found him lying unresponsive.
On checking, he discovered that his father had died. A case of unnatural death was initially registered at the Viveknagar police station.
During further investigation, police questioned Pasha’s sister, her son, and other relatives.
A relative raised suspicion about the circumstances of the death, following which a murder case was registered, a senior police officer said.
During interrogation, it emerged that an argument had taken place on March 1 between Pasha and his nephew, Ahmed, over vacating the house.
Police said that during the altercation, Ahmed allegedly assaulted Pasha, causing him to lose consciousness and collapse.
The accused then placed him on the bed and left the scene, police added.
