81st Annual Academy Awards to air 'Live' on STAR Movies

Media News

Mumbai, February 17, 2009

Hollywood’s biggest names will gather at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles for the 81st Annual Academy Awards. STAR Movies will televise the star-studded event ‘live’ on Mon, 23 Feb at 6.30 am (IST).

The primetime encore at 8.30 pm will include an exclusive, on-the-ground Red Carpet Special hosted by Channel ’s Dominic Lau. This year’s ceremony promises to be a memorable one with first-time host Hugh Jackman fronting the telecast.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is this year’s frontrunner with 13 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director and a Best Actor nod for Brad Pitt. The Golden Globe-winning Slumdog Millionaire scored 10 Oscar nominations and is in the running for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture.

The other contenders in the Best Picture category are the inspirational biopic, Milk, which landed eight nominations, the Holocaust drama The Reader, which scored five nominations, and the based-on-fact Frost/Nixon, which also earned five nominations. In the Best Actor competition, Brad Pitt will face off against The Visitor’s Richard Jenkins, Frost/ Nixon’s Frank Langella, Milk’s Sean Penn and The Wrestler’s Mickey Rourke.

One of the closest contests will be in the battle for the Best Actress trophy. After winning a Golden Globe and BAFTA Award for her turn in The Reader, Kate Winslet is the odds-on favourite to take home the Oscar. But she faces stiff competition from Oscar winner Angelina Jolie (Changeling), awards darling Meryl Streep (Doubt), veteran actress Melissa Leo (Frozen River) and Anne Hathaway (Rachel Got Married).

This year’s nominations also honored Heath Ledger who received a posthumous Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role as The Joker in The Dark Knight. Other contenders in the category are Josh Brolin (Milk), Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt) and Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road).

Viewers can look forward to a change of pace this year with Australia’s Hugh Jackman taking over hosting duties. The Emmy-winning star promises the 2009 ceremony will be less formal and more fun than previous years. “We’re in the world of showbiz, and the Oscars have to be more show than business,” says the actor. “The fact that they’ve hired me is a sign they’re taking a different route.”

Will the feel-good fable Slumdog Millionaire beat out the all-star cast of Benjamin Button? Will Brad Pitt win his first Oscar? Will Kate Winslet finally take home a statuette after six Oscar norms? When the envelopes are opened, be among the first to know who the winners are when STAR Movies brings you the 81st Annual Academy Awards ‘live’ on Mon, 23 Feb at 6.30 am (IST) with a primetime encore at 8.30 pm.

For further information, please contact:

STAR India Pvt Ltd.

Preeti Hingorani

E-mail: preetih@in.startv.com

Mobile: 9820196117

Vaishnavi Corporate Communications (Pvt.) Ltd.

Ritesh Chheda

E-mail: ritesh.chheda@vccpl.com

Tel: 022-66568751