What record voting for Oscars nominations mean

The voting for the final nominations for the prestigious Oscars started and the results of the final shortlisted list for the various categories will be out on 24 January 2023. The Oscar nominations this time witnessed the record wording in the 95 years of history and this is increasing speculation as to what it means to Indian nominations especially Rajamouli's magnum opus Rrr which has been driving all the westerners crazy.

Bill Kramer, the Academy CRO, ahead of the nominations announcement sent the mail to members of more than 80 nations. Though the exact number is not known, more than 9579 voting members were eligible to vote across the 18 branches. The voting started on 11 January and concluded on 17 January.

Indians are excited as apart from Rrr, films like The Last Show (The Chello Show) India's official entry, The Kashmir Files,Gangubhai Kathiawadi, Brahmastra-Part 1 Shiva,Rocketry-The Nambi Effect,The Grayman,Iravin Nizhal are in the fray. Speculation is on as to how the record voting for this years Oscars will effect the prospects of Indian films and will Rrr make it to the final list.

Before analysing the prospects of Rrr and other Indian films, let us find out how many votes, a film needs to make it to the final cut in each category. The voting members this year increased by 64% from 2014.  If we consider that all the members have voted for various categories, we can calculate the number of votes needed for each category and the magic figure.

Best PICTURE

All 9,579 members can cast ballots for Best Picture

“Initial Magic Number”: 871

Five branches vote only in this race (and can take part in the selection process for Animated Feature and Foreign-Language Feature if they so choose)

BEST ACTOR, BEST ACTRESS, BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Actors Branch: 1,302 members (down from 1,336)

“Initial Magic Number”: 218

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Documentary Branch: 648 members (up from 618)

“Initial Magic Number”: 109

BEST DIRECTOR

Directors Branch: 573 members (up from 568)

“Initial Magic Number”: 96

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY, BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Writers Branch: 510 members (up from 504)

“Initial Magic Number”: 86

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Designers Branch: 390 members (up from 387)

“Initial Magic Number”: 66

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE, BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Music Branch: 388 members (up from 383)

“Initial Magic Number”: 65

BEST FILM EDITING

Film Editors Branch: 376 members (up from 375)

“Initial Magic Number”: 63

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Cinematographers Branch: 290 members (same)

“Initial Magic Number”: 49

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Costume Designers Branch: 169 members (down from 171)

“Initial Magic Number”: 29