On bagging the nomination for Best Actor in the upcoming Academy Awards, Riz Ahmed has already made headlines. Reacting joyfully to the achievement of this historic nomination, celebrities from Pakistani industry had opinions to share while congratulating Ahmed and wishing him luck for the Oscars.
Riz Ahmed, who plays the role of a drummer with hearing impairment in Sound of Metal, made history on Monday by becoming the first Muslim to ever be nominated in the leading actor category at the Academy Awards.
On the occasion actors like Mehwish Hayat, Sanam Saeed, Mansha Pasha took it to Twitter lauded the actor.
.@rizwanahmed being the 1st Muslim to get nominated shouldn't be the story. It should be abt performance. Bt let's accept in a 🌏where we’re fighting 4 fairer representation in mainstream media a Muslim nominated for Best Actor for the 1st time since1929 is one hell of a big deal pic.twitter.com/1ap2s4MQ3j
— Mehwish Hayat TI (@MehwishHayat) March 16, 2021
Congratulations dosst! Proud moment, you totally deserve it. Go on then keeping making waves and bringing about change! @rizwanahmed ⚡🙌
— Sanam Saeed (@sanammodysaeed) March 17, 2021
Riz Ahmed! Represent đź’Ż https://t.co/69AF6hfRB1
— Mansha Pasha (@manshapasha) March 15, 2021
Similarly, Ahsan Khan told The Express Tribune,
“It’s a brilliant achievement; it’s a great achievement. He’s is very talented but I didn’t appreciate how he was singled out as the first Muslim to have bagged an Oscar for Best Actor… which left me a little uncomfortable. It should just have been that he was just a Hollywood actor who delivered a stellar performance and was lauded for it.”
This year’s Oscars also marked the first time two Asian actors were nominated in the Best Actor category as nine of the 20 acting nods went to non-white performers. These included Riz and South Korea’s Yuh-Jung Youn of Minari, in what US showbiz publication Variety described as the most diverse acting Oscars slate ever.
Youn, who played the role of a mischievous granny, said in a statement, reported Reuters,
“Never in my dreams did I ever think a Korean actress would be nominated for an Oscar, and I can’t believe it’s me!”
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times about being the first Muslim actor to have bagged a nomination for a leading role, Ahmed shared,
“To be honest, I just feel like however people can find themselves at this moment, however, they can find a connection to this moment, is beautiful to me. Some people may connect to the fact that it’s the first Muslim, some people might say British-Pakistani, some people might say the first person from Wembley in London.”
