Riz Ahmed, who played the role of a drummer who begins to lose his hearing in Amazon Studio’s Sound of Metal charted history by becoming the first Muslim to be nominated in the leading actor category at the Academy Awards.
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The actor, while responding to the nomination said that he was “honoured to be nominated by my fellow actors alongside such inspiring performances”.
“I am grateful to the Academy for their support and encouragement,” the actor added.
Mehwish Hayat, Adnan Siddiqui and Sanam Saeed celebrated Riz’s big achievement and congratulated the actor on social media.
“Congratulations Riz. You have created history with your nomination as the first Muslim for lead actor at the distinguished Academy Awards,” said Siddiqui. “Hard work and talent always get recognised.”
“Pakistan is proud of you,” added the actor.
Mehwish Hayat also expressed her delight over the nomination, saying: “In a world where we’re fighting for fairer representation in mainstream media, a Muslim nominated for Best Actor for the first time since 1929 is one hell of a big deal.”
Sanam Saeed also congratulated her ‘dosst‘, saying: “Proud moment, you totally deserve it.”
“Go on then keeping making waves and bringing about change,” she added.
The 2021 Oscar nominations were announced from London by presenters Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra Jonas. The Academy Awards would typically have happened by now but this year will be telecast on April 25. The film academy said Monday that the show will be held at both its usual home, the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, and the city’s railway hub, Union Station.
