Superstar Suriya becomes the first south actor invited to join the Oscars Committee

Actor-producer Suriya is among the 397 artists and executives to have received an invitation to join members of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. It is a proud moment, as he becomes the first south actor to be invited to join the committee. On Tuesday, the Academy released a list of the new members, the list also includes Bollywood actress Kajol and filmmaker Reema Kagti.

Suriya starrer Soorarai Pottru was a part of India’s official entry to Oscars 2021. His famous courtroom drama Jai Bhim (2021) was also shared on the Oscars' YouTube channel under the section, ‘Scene at the Academy.’ The documentary filmmakers Sushmit Ghosh and Rintu Thomas, whose film "Writing with Fire" garnered an Oscar nomination earlier this year, are among the other Indians who received the invitation this year.

The Oscars awards are organized every year by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. A number of Indian actors and technicians are already members of the Academy which includes Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, AR Rahman, Madhuri Dixit, Vidya Balan, Ali Fazal, Amitabh Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, and Ekta Kapoor.

With the Hindi version of Soorarai Pottru, which stars Akshay Kumar opposite Radhika Madan, Suriya will shortly make his Bollywood debut as a producer. The film is being produced by Suriya's business 2D Entertainment. It was recently disclosed that the actor also makes a cameo in the Hindi version, which is still untitled.

Actor Suriya has a few more upcoming projects in his pipeline which include Vaadivaasal directed by Vetrimaaran. He is currently shooting for a Tamil movie with filmmaker Bala.