In pictures: Pakistani stars, Priyanka Chopra celebrate South Asian Excellence at pre-Oscars party

Saim Sadiq, Alina Khan, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Ali Sethi, Tan France among others were present at the celebration

Priyanka Chopra and Mindy Kaling, along with Paramount Pictures, hosted a South Asian Excellence party ahead of the Oscars 2023 in Los Angeles on Thursday to celebrate the achievement of all nominees who made it to the Academy Awards this year.

The pre-Oscars party saw a myriad of Pakistani stars in attendance including the Joyland team Saim Sadiq, Alina Khan, Apoorva Guru Chara, alongside filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, activist Malala with her husband Asser Malik, singer Ali Sethi, actor-director Riz Ahmed and more.

Asser uploaded a picture on his Instagram Story from the party featuring the “Pakistani gang” that included Tan France, Maheen Khan, Rasti Farooq, Ali Junejo as well.

Sharmeen had a little Ms. Marvel reunion at the party too where she posed with actors Zenobia Shroff and Saagar Sheikh.

The Oscar-winning filmmaker also posted a video of Ali singing his global-hit song, Pasoori, to entertain the crowd. In a video, Alina could be seen dancing to the Punjabi number while everyone else cheered for the Chan Kithan crooner.

 

 

 

 

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Ali also posted pictures with Saim, Sharmeen and Alina from the party.

Taking to the photo-sharing app, Sharmeen called the night “an emotional” one and reminisced about her first time at the Academy Awards in 2012 and how far the South Asian community has come since then. “It was an emotional night for many of us in LA. In 2012, when I was at the Oscars, there were three South Asians!” she wrote.
 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy (@sharmeenobaidchinoy)

“A decade later over 100 of us came together to celebrate South Asians in cinema, and amongst us were so many Pakistanis. I watched Saim get up on stage and make a speech about Joyland. Malala spoke about her support for cinema and Ali Sethi brought the house down with Pasoori. And I will proudly say that as the only South Asian with two Academy Awards, there was so much love for that achievement!” Sharmeen exclaimed.

“This is our time and we have arrived!” she concluded.

Priyanka, speaking to Entertainment Tonight, exclaimed how proud she is to see her peers from South Asia reach such heights and represent their stories on a global stage. She also talked about how she wishes to see South Asian stories become a “norm” in cinema and not “an exception.”

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Priyanka (@priyankachopra)

“I’m so grateful that we’ve had the ability to not just return, but do it in such an amazing capacity. I mean, this is iconic. And to be able to look around me, and see my peers and colleagues that have hustled and pounded the pavement for years, and to be able to have them receive a moment that’s just theirs, makes me like, cry,” she said.

Priyanka shared that the night is all about the nominees. The nominated films at this year’s ceremony include RRR, Turning Red, All That Breathes, The Elephant Whisperers and Everything Everywhere All At Once.

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