The latest crop of Indian actors and film industry members that have been invited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the governing body behind the Oscars 2021, include industry personalities such as Vidya Balan, Ekta Kapoor, and Shobha Kapoor. Out of all the stars, actors, personalities from across the globe, 395 personalities have been handpicked this year and invited to vote. Vidya Balan was recognised for her performances in two films - 'Tumhari Sulu', 'Kahaani'. In the former directed by Suresh Triveni, Vidya plays a housewife who hosts a late-night radio show. In Sujoy Ghosh's 'Kahaani', the national award-winning actress plays Vidya Bagchi, a pregnant woman, who travels halfway across the world to search for her missing husband. As for Ekta Kapoor, she has been recognised for 'Dream Girl' and 'Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai,' while her mother Shobha has been recognised for Shahid Kapoor's 'Udta Punjab' and 'The Dirty Picture'. For those of you hungry for more information, other actors who've been invited to join The Academy include Robert Pattinson, Laverne Cox, Vanessa Kirby, Steven Yeun, and others. The directors who've been invited include Cathy Yan, Jonathan Glazer, and more. According to an American media company, this year's list is made up of 46% women, 39% underrepresented ethnic/racial communities and 53% international from 50 countries. For the unversed, in 2020, when actors Hrithik Roshan, Alia Bhatt, among others were invited to join the panel, filmmaker Hansal Mehta had tweeted reacting strongly to their invitations. Retweeting a tweet with the names, he had written, 'Nepotistic Academy.'. Remember, this was also around the time the burning debate on nepotism was raging on social media post actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death. Claims were made that the actor was forced into depression because he was sidelined or removed from many projects and made to feel inferior, while star kids were given all the good roles.