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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LoP Ashoka targets CM govt over corruption, says being 'shameless' in public life not forgivable
Bengaluru (PTI): Targeting Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the Congress government in Karnataka on corruption, BJP leader R Ashoka on Friday said, being foolish was forgivable, but being "shameless" in public life was not.
The Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly claimed that in just 30 months of its tenure, the Congress administration has broken every previous record on corruption-related controversies.
He was responding to Siddaramaiah's post on 'X' on Thursday hitting back at the BJP, stating that Upa Lokayukta Justice Veerappa's claims of "63 per cent corruption" were based on his report in November 2019, when BJP's B S Yediyurappa was the CM.
"But Ashoka, without understanding the Upa Lokayukta's statement properly, has ended up tying the BJP's own bells of sins onto our heads and has effectively shot himself in the foot," the CM had said, as he accused Ashoka of foolishness for trying to twist Veerappa's statement to target the current government.
Responding, Ashoka said, "it is one thing to be called foolish in politics, that can be forgiven."
"But in public life, especially in the Chief Minister's chair, one must never become shameless," Ashoka posted on 'X' on Friday addressing Siddaramaiah.
Noting that the CM himself had admitted on the floor of the Assembly that a Rs 87 crore scam took place in the Valmiki Development Corporation, he said that when a CM acknowledges such a massive irregularity inside the floor of the House, the natural expectation is immediate action and accountability.
"But instead of taking responsibility, you continue in office as if nothing has happened. What should the people of Karnataka call this, if not sheer shamelessness," he asked.
Pointing out that the CM's Economic Advisor and senior Congress MLA Basavaraja Rayareddy had publicly stated that under Congress rule, Karnataka has become No.1 in corruption, Ashoka said, "Yet, you still cling to the Chief Minister's chair without a moment of introspection. What should the people of Karnataka call this, if not sheer shamelessness."
Senior Congress MLA C R Patil had exposed the "money for House" racket in the Housing Department and even warned that the government would collapse if the details he has were made public, Ashoka said.
"Despite such serious allegations from within your own party (Congress), you neither initiated an inquiry nor acted against the concerned minister. What should the people of Karnataka call this, if not sheer shamelessness," Ashoka asked the CM.
Highlighting the "40 percent commission" allegation Congress made against the previous BJP government, the opposition leader said, the commission that the Siddaramaiah government appointed concluded that the accusation was baseless.
"After your own panel demolished your own claim, what moral right do you have to continue repeating that allegation. What should the people of Karnataka call this, if not sheer shamelessness," he asked.
For the last two and a half years, Karnataka has been 'drowning' in corruption, scandals, irregularities and allegations across departments. Ashoka said, "If I begin listing every case that emerged under your government, even 24 hours would not be enough."
"And the most tragic aspect of your administration is this: the unbearable pressure, corruption demands and administrative harassment under your government pushed several officers and contractors into extreme distress - including the suicide of Chandrasekharan which exposed the Valmiki Development Corporation scam - a sign of how deeply broken the system has become under your watch," he said.
Instead of fixing this hopeless environment, the government has tried to bury every complaint and silence every voice, he charged.
"Being foolish is forgivable, but being shameless in public life is definitely not."
"When your own ministers admit scams, when your own advisors certify Karnataka as No.1 in corruption, and when your own MLAs expose rackets inside your departments - clinging to power without accountability is not leadership. It is shamelessness in its purest form." PTI KSU
Earlier on Thursday Ashoka had demanded that the corruption case and allegations in the state against the Congress government be handed over to a CBI investigation, citing a reported statement by Upalokaykta Justice Veerappa alleging "63 per cent corruption", following which Siddaramaiah hit back at the BJP leader.
