Kamal Haasan and Ayushmann Khurrana Are In The Oscars Class of 2025

You scroll. You blink. You see their names. Legendary actor Kamal Haasan. Ayushmann Khurrana. The Oscars Class of 2025. Wait—what?

You pause. Read again. It’s real.

Two of Indian cinema’s most interesting men have got an invitation to Hollywood’s most exclusive club to join the Academy's Motion Picture Arts and Science. Along side, director of All We Imagine As Light director Payal Kapadiya, the two Indian actors have the chance to be part of the prestigious roster that holds around 534 members from the world film fraternity.

The Indian actors will join the likes of A-listers not only from Hollywood but from other industries across the world including Ariana Grande, Jeremy Strong, and Hamdan Ballal, the Palestinian filmmaker who, just weeks after winning the 2025 best documentary feature Oscar for No Other Land, was beaten and detained in Israel.

While the Academy considers Oscars nominees as members of the class by default, those as the likes of Ayushmann Khurranna who haven't yet been nominated for a film that's found it's way to the Oscars require sponsorship by two members of the Academy from a branch or category to which the sponsored are seeking admission — and the vast majority are invited to become members.

And if you are wondering if that's all that's required to be on the list, you couldn't be more wrong. Each member who is invited to this prestigious club must choose between one category or branch to accept the membership from a total of 19.

This year's class of invitees-- 41 percent are women, 45 percent hail-- from underrepresented communities and 55 percent are based outside of the United States (in 60 different countries and territories).

So, If all 2025 invitees decide to join the organization, the total membership, including emeritus members, will number 11,120, of which 10,143 would be voting members. Thirty five percent would be women, 22 percent would hail from underrepresented communities and 21 percent would be based outside of the United States.

In 2024, veteran actor Shabana Azmi who has given powerful performances in the past in films such as Aakrosh and Mandi, and was recently seen in Netflix series Dabba Cartel along with RRR director SS Rajamouli, producer Ritesh Sidhwani, cinematographer Ravi Varman, Rima Das of Village Rockstars and Naatu Naatu choreographer Prem Rakshith were invited from various branches to join the class of 2024.

As the Academy continues to broaden its horizons, the inclusion of voices like Kamal Haasan, Ayushmann Khurrana, and Payal Kapadia signals a quiet but powerful shift. Indian cinema, in all its complexity and contradiction, is no longer waiting at the door—it’s stepping in.

Academy CEO Bill Kramer and outgoing president Janet Yang have shared, “We are thrilled to invite this esteemed class of artists, technologists and professionals to join the Academy. Through their commitment to filmmaking and to the greater movie industry, these exceptionally talented individuals have made indelible contributions to our global filmmaking community.”