Deepika Padukone to join galaxy of global stars at Battle of the BAFTAs

Half an hour after midnight tonight (Indian Standard Time), curtains go up on the BAFTAs, the much-anticipated British Academy of Film and Television Awards, with Prince William being the guest of honour and Deepika Padukone one of the presenters. The glittering evening is being beamed live by Lionsgate Play for Indian audiences from 12:30 a.m. onwards.
As the world of showbiz prepares for the BAFTAs, which may not be up there with the Oscars, but are nonetheless counted among the world’s top four film awards, here’s a curtain-raiser to bring you up to date on the event.
The race this year is between British-born Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, which has got 13 nominations, including best film, best actor (Cillian Murphy) and best supporting actress (Emily Blunt), and Yorgos Lanthimos’s brilliantly original Poor Things, which received 11 nods. Emma Stone is a frontrunner in the best actress race.
Nolan, according to BBC.com, is favourite to pick up best director. “Hard to believe given his back catalogue, which includes Dunkirk, Inception and The Dark Knight Rises, but this will be his first Bafta win if he triumphs at the weekend,” says BBC.com.
If, as widely expected, Robert Downey Jr picks up the award for best supporting actor, it will be his second Bafta win, a whopping 31 years after his best actor win for Chaplin back in 1993, reports BBC.com.
Other films hoping for a successful evening include French courtroom drama Anatomy of a Fall, nostalgic comedy drama The Holdovers, the Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro with Bradley Cooper playing the lead role, fantasy romance All of Us Strangers, black comedy thriller Saltburn and Barbie of course.
“Some film fans were left disappointed after Margot Robbie missed the cut for a best actress nomination at the Oscars,” notes BBC.com, “but the ‘Barbie’ star has a chance (albeit a slim one) at the BAFTAs in the same category.”
The list of presenters include David Beckham, Dua Lipa, Bollywood star Deepika Padikone, Hugh Grant, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Idris Elba, Gillian Anderson and Andrew Scott (who missed out on a best actor nod for All of Us Strangers). (IANS)19