Photo Courtesy: Indiatoday
After Zoya Akhtar was announced as the latest member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences', proud father Javed Akhtar exuded his happiness on social media.
Sharing a tweet in regard to his daughter's entry to the Academy, Javed wrote, "I am sure that fellow Indians will be happy and proud to know that my daughter Zoya Akhtar who is a well known writer- director has been offered the membership of Oscar academy which is rare honour."
Javed's tweet comes after the Academy welcomed four Indian film personalities as its newest members which include filmmakers Anurag Kashyap, Ritesh Batra, actor Anupam Kher, and 'Gully Boy' director Zoya Akhtar.
Zoya Akhtar on 'Jee Le Zara'
Not only her father but her brother and actor Farhan Akhtar also congratulated the filmmaker for her new stint.
"Congratulations Zoya Akhtar .. well deserved .. happy for you and proud of you," Farhan wrote on Instagram.
Zoya is well-known for helming films like 'Luck By Chance', 'Dil Dhadakne Do', 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara'. She earned a Filmfare under the Best Debut Director category for 'Luck By Chance'.
Other than Bollywood, Zoya has also tried her hands at Netflix's 'Lust Stories' and streaming giant Amazon prime's 'Made in Heaven'.
A total of 842 artists from as many as 59 countries were invited to join The Academy this year. Achieving a new level of gender parity, the organisation announced that half of the members invited to join the Academy are women.
The organisation also disclosed that 29 per cent of the new invitees are people of colour.
Among the other members of Indian descent are British actor Archie Panjabi of 'The Good Wife' fame and Canadian actor-director Nisha Ganatra who has helmed 'Chutney Popcorn'.
In 2018, 20 Indian film personalities, including Shah Rukh Khan, Naseeruddin Shah, Aditya Chopra, Ali Fazal, Anil Kapoor, and Tabu, were invited to join the organisation.
Indian film producer Guneet Monga, whose film titled 'Period. End of Sentence' bagged the Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) at this year's Oscars, was also invited last year.
