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As Ayushmann Khurrana joins the Oscars club, here are five times when the actor made India proud
Ayushmann Khurrana was recently invited to vote on The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars) for his path-breaking contribution to cinema. Along with him, other invitees from across the world included Gillian Anderson, Ariana Grande, Kamal Haasan and Mikey Madison among others. His inclusion in the voting committee for the Academy Awards to be held in March 2026 only further attests his choices for choosing films that create his brand of disruptive, progressive cinema in India.
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But that's not all, here are five times where Ayushmann made India proud, globally!
Invitation to The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars)
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited distinguished artists from across the world for their contributions to motion pictures and cinema where they come together to vote for the awards, to be held in March 2026. Ayushmann joins the likes of powerhouse actors and artists like Gillian Anderson, Ariana Grande, Kamal Haasan, Mikey Madison, Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin, to name a few.
Only Indian celebrity to be honored twice by TIME in three years!
Ayushmann Khurrana has been honored twice by TIME Magazine – first in 2020, where he was featured in TIME Magazine's prestigious TIME 100 list, which names the most influential people worldwide where he was recognized for his bold choices in cinema and his efforts to normalize conversations around taboo subjects. The second time, he won the TIME100 Impact Award in 2023 in Singapore for using cinema as a tool for social reform.
Global Acclaim For His Films
Ayushmann's films have resonated with audiences across continents, not just resulting in box office numbers, but also being remade in foreign languages. Some of his films that created waves internationally include –
- Andhadhun - Andhadhun went on to become one of the highest grossing films globally making over 450 crore in international markets with 325 crores in China alone! Furthermore, it was even remade in Chinese, titled The Piano Player
- Article 15 - Article 15 was the opening film at the London Indian Film Festival (LIFF) and even went on to win the LIFF Audience Award, receiving praises internationally. Apart from this, it was also screened at the Melbourne Indian Film Festival and Singapore South Asian International Film Festival where it received immense recognition for tackling the subject of human rights with utmost sensitivity
Dua Lipa & Ayushmann's Iconic Moment at the Time100 Gala
Representing India at the Time100 Gala in 2024, Ayushmann looked dapper as he posed alongside global pop icon Dua Lipa, a moment which went viral on social media. From fan requests for Ayushmann to feature on Dua Lipa's next song to people rooting for Dua Lipa's Bollywood's debut with Ayushmann, social media frenzy was at an all time high!
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Only Indian to win the 'Future Leader for One ASIA' at the 22nd annual Unforgettable Gala
Ayushmann was awarded the 'Future Leader for One ASIA' at the 22nd Unforgettable Gala in 2024, presented by Character Media & Golden TV becoming the only Indian actor to bag this award after S.S. Rajamoulli in 2023. Other award recipients alongside him this year included nine time Oscar winner Chinese-American actress Joan Chen as well as globally renowned actor Hiroyuki Sanada, known for his works in Shogun & the John Wick franchise, among others.
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Time of India
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Time of India
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Economic Times
an hour ago
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Indian restaurants in New York are going unapologetically hyperlocal New York: At 7:30 on a sweltering summer evening in New York City, the Garment District is winding down. The frantic activity of the Big Apple's fashion hub gives way to a quieter time of day. But the air still hums with the excitement of secrets to be revealed. Times Square is to the north with its bright lights and heaving crowds, while the Empire State Building is unmissable, awash with colour from the lights. The mannequins in the shop windows, draped in sequined fabric, seem glimmeringly sentient. Tucked away on West 37th Street, a storefront announces Chatti in a flamboyant italic script and, in smaller but no less confident font, By Regi is the celebrated Indian chef's toddy shop-inspired, Kerala-style kitchen. And it's part of a wave. New York is in the throes of a spice-sprinkled gourmet glasnost that is unapologetically city's Indian food scene used to be split, only half-jokingly, into butter chicken for the masses, molecular gastronomy for the those extremes lay an arid vacuum. The ground has shifted with a bunch of intrepid, creative chefs serving Indian food that's uncompromisingly hyperlocal and high concept to NYC. Diners can't get enough of it. And the food critics, powerful enough to make or break restaurants in this part of the world, are the first time in its nearly century long history, the New York Times anointed an Indian restaurant—Semma—as No. 1 in its Top 100 Restaurants in NYC list. The South Indian fine-dining destination, helmed by chef Vijay Kumar (formerly of California's Michelin-starred Rasa) and backed by restaurateurs Roni Mazumdar and Chintan Pandya of Unapologetic Foods, has emerged as an unmistakable disruptor in fine dining. 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'And that's in large part because of Chintan and Roni and Vijay.'Bungalow is Vikas Khanna's most personal offering to date.'This is my last restaurant,' he says, a culinary venture that caps off a 41-year career. 'New York is not an easy restaurant space, of course; it's the greatest, and it's also the toughest.'With Bungalow, he's reclaiming memory, an ode to what his late sister told him after admonishing him for 'chasing lists.''I have so many failed businesses where I could not break the code,' he says, but Bungalow is his homecoming. New York has had great South Asian food for quite some time, says Ryan Sutton, a food critic who has spent over two decades writing about food for Eater and now publishes The Lo Times. 'I remember going to a wedding at the original Junoon about a decade ago—probably the best wedding food I've ever had.' There was also Hemant Mathur's now-closed Tulsi, which had a Michelin star, like Junoon. 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These ideas were mostly pushed to the confines of the immigrant-reliant borough of Queens.'What's happening is not a trend,' says Pandya, who fired up the kitchen at Dhamaka, listed as a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant. 'I think it took a lot of crazy steps, almost, that didn't make logical or business sense for us to arrive at this point, and those were the breakthroughs that we needed.'What is happening differently with Indian food, and specifically in their restaurants, is that they are serving the real thing. 'Food we've been cooking for a long time—at our households, at our events—but it was never represented,' says March 2017, common friends had introduced Mazumdar and Pandya to each other. Pandya says Mazumdar was 'a crazy entrepreneur' who wanted someone to partner with.'We knew one thing—our cuisine needed a radical shift,' Mazumdar says. 'Chintan had spent his whole career in fine dining. I came in with a disruptive mindset. That's where we connected. We didn't have a white paper or a protocol.'It was uncharted territory. Indian food had never really worked in this city. 'So we asked, what do we do about it?'Whether that meant serving gurda kapoora (goat kidney and testicles) or refusing to do takeout at the pandemic-born Dhamaka.'The very first time when you open the lid of a freshly cooked dish and that steam comes out—that's a dhamaka,' Pandya says. 'I cannot recreate that in a plastic container.'Currently, Semma is what every Indian wants to talk about. Kumar has taken the city by storm, given that it's unprecedented for a Tamil food-centric restaurant to get a Michelin Kumar wasn't hired to build Semma. He had written to Mazumdar when Rahi launched, saying he would love to join them he finally joined the kitchen at Rahi, his dishes stood out. At that point, Mazumdar said if they end up serving this, they would end up confusing Rahi's core consumers. So Semma was born. Rahi has since closed.'Semma showcases Tamil Nadu. Masalawala brings Kolkata. Dhamaka brought offal. This isn't about fusion or elevation. It's about recognition,' says says: 'The food is spicy, it's loud, it's rowdy, and it's fun. There's an energy to it that's similar to what you'd find in Bombay or Calcutta.'Unapologetic Foods is planning to open an Adda in Philadelphia and a fast-casual Kababwala in NYC by the end of this at Chatti, Mathew is busy attending to guests at every table—explaining toddy shop culture. Khanna says there are nights he sees scores waiting outside. 'They're just coming as a part of a pilgrimage. Agar restaurant ye create kar sakta hai, it means there's so much more.'For the first time, Indian food in New York isn't whispering. It's making noise—and it's not asking for permission. It's unapologetically Indian.
