Oscars' big miss: Lata Mangeshkar, Dilip Kumar not included In Memoriam section

Melody queen Lata Mangeshkar and cinema veteran Dilip Kumar were not included in the In Memoriam segment of the 94th Academy Awards held on March 28, and Indian fans are furious over this apparent oversight.

The absence of two of Indian cinema’s giants in the memoriam section in the 2022 Oscars ceremony was a glaring slip-up, especially after the British Academy Film and Television Awards (BAFTA) had honoured Mangeshkar and Kumar earlier this month.

In its 2021 edition, the Oscars featured actor Irrfan Khan and Oscar winning costume designer Bhanu Athaiya in its tributes section, while Bollywood stars Rishi Kapoor and Sushant Singh Rajput found mention on the official website of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).

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There was an outpouring of anger on Twitter, slamming the Academy for omitting the two Indian legends. One user wrote, “Shame that @TheAcademy didn’t pay homage to the two all time greats – Lata Mangeshkar & Dilip Kumar…” “They should have shown Lata Mangeshkar and Dilip Kumar in the In Memoriam section ..I mean come on man! They are CINEMA LEGENDS! #Oscars,” another person posted on Twitter.

One more Twitteratti referred to Will Smith and Chris Rocks slapgate incident and posted, “So #Oscars didn’t have time to pay tribute to Indian legends #LataMangeshkar & #DilipKumar. Not that it should matter to us but they rightfully deserve a slap. Consider #WillSmith charging at #Oscar2022”

While Mangeshkar found a mention on the 2022 list, posted on the Academy’s website, Kumar was absent from this line-up as well. During the live telecast, the Oscars honoured actors such as Sidney Poitier, Betty White, Carmine Salinas, Olivia Dukakis, William Hurt, Ned Beatty, Peter Bogdanovich, Clarence Williams III, Michael K Williams, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Sally Kellerman, Yvette Mimeux, Sonny Chiba, Saginaw Grant, Dorothy Steel, Dean Stockwell, Melvin Van Peebles, Norman Lloyd, and Max Julien in the In Memoriam segment at the show held at Dolby Theatre here.