The Oscars Showrunner: With Raj Kapoor at the Helm, This Year’s Academy Awards Deliver Glitz, Humor, and a Pinch of Politics
- The Indo-Canadian, who was co-executive producing for the first time, has worked on the show for the past seven years and most recently served as producer for the 95th Oscars.
As the new year rolls in and the awards season begins, film buffs start the countdown for the Academy Awards. The annual awards are the most prestigious, not just for the glitz and glamour they accompany, but they are also considered to be the pinnacle of peer recognition in Hollywood.
This year’s show was no exception. With Raj Kapoor as the executive producer and showrunner, the 96th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 10, had it all — an engaging host, the glitz and glamor of the stars, some unpredictable moments, but very few political overtones.
Kapoor, an Indo-Canadian is a six-time Emmy nominee who took home a trophy for executive producing “Adele: One Night Only.” He has worked on the show for the past seven years and most recently served as producer for the 95th Oscars. His other credits include The Grammy Awards, The Emmy Awards, and “Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music and Laughter,” among other notable live or pre-tapped events.
He was joined by Katy Mullan as executive producer, and Hamish Hamilton as director. This was Kapoor and Mullan’s first time executive producing and Hamilton’s fourth time directing the Oscars.
According to CNN, “the main challenge facing the producers hinged on the general lack of suspense regarding who would win in key categories other than best actress.” But some segments in the three-and-a-half-hour show, which were reintroduced seem to work.
Kimmel hosted the Oscars for the second year in a row and the fourth time overall,
The son of two schoolteachers from New Delhi, Kapoor grew up in Alberta, Canada, and completed his BA in education, English, and drama from the University of Alberta.
Some of the highlights on the night included the recognition of the below-the-line union workers, having the past winners introduce the nominees in the major categories, a naked John Cena, and Kimmel reading Trump’s real-time reviews calling him the “worst host” on his social media. CNN noted that beginning the In Memoriam segment with a clip of Alexei Navalny from the 2023 Oscar-nominated documentary was “a very poignant touch by the Academy and Oscars producers.”
In its review, Deadline thanked the movie gods because “for the first time in too long and after more than few false starts, the Oscars didn’t just celebrate movies tonight, it celebrated putting on a show about celebrating movies.”
Apart from the Trump remark by the host, the Israel-Gaza conflict was just mentioned once. In his speed ch accepting the award for their best international feature, “The Zone of Interest” director Jonathan Glazer highlighted the film’s message on dehumanization. “Whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims of this dehumanization, how do we resist,” he said. Meanwhile, some celebrities like Billie Eilish, her brother Finneas O’Connell, Ramy Youssef, and Mark Ruffalo wore the pins in support of Artists4Ceasefire, a group of advocates and artists that opposes the Israel-Hamas war. “The pin symbolizes collective support for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the release of all of the hostages, and for the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza,” the group said in a statement.
The other moment came during Ukrainian filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov’s acceptance speech for “20 Days in Mariupol,” which won the best documentary award. Wishing that there had never been a reason to make the film in the first place, he said he wished he could “exchange this for Russia never attacking Ukraine, never occupying our cities.”
Who is Raj Kapoor?
Kapoor is the founder of Raj Kapoor Productions, a Los Angeles-based ‘full service creative agency and production company,’ which has created shows for big names like Carrie Underwood, Backstreet Boys, Mariah Carey, Coldplay, Shania Twain, and The Chainsmokers. He has received six Primetime Emmy nominations — four of them for outstanding variety specials (live) for The Grammys in 2019, 2021, and 2022 and Oscars in 2023. His other two Emmy nods are for outstanding variety special (pre-recorded). He won in 2022 for “Adele: One Night Only” and is a current nominee for “Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music & Laughter.”
The son of two schoolteachers from New Delhi, Kapoor grew up in Alberta, Canada, and completed his BA in education, English, and drama from the University of Alberta. He started his career as a dancer and choreographer and moved to show production when he got a break on TV hits like American Idol and Dancing with the Stars.
Despite creating a niche for himself in Hollywood, Kapoor is often asked about his iconic namesake. He told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he gets asked that a lot more now being in entertainment. “Yes, we have the same name, but we’re not related! I’m flattered to have the same name as him.”
In addition to his Emmy-nominated work, Kapoor’s credits include the ACM Awards, the Latin Grammys, The Emmy Awards, “Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration” and “The Disney Family Singalong.” Raj has directed and produced Vegas residencies for the Backstreet Boys, Mariah Carey, John Fogerty, and Shania Twain. He has mounted numerous large-scale tours for Jason Aldean, American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, Jewel, Jonas Brothers, Juanes, Demi Lovato, Tim McGraw & Faith Hill, OneRepublic, Rascal Flatts, So You Think You Can Dance, Shania Twain and Carrie Underwood. Corporate clients include Disney, Gallo, GM, Skechers, Tesla, UAE, and the United Nations.