Before the Argentina vs. France World Cup final began in December of last year, Deepika Padukone unveiled the official FIFA World Cup trophy at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar. The actor became the first Indian to unveil the FIFA trophy. Deepika Padukone joined the presenters at the 95th Academy Awards a little over two months later. This year’s grand event also featured Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Samuel L. Jackson, and Michael B. Jordan as presenters. While receiving thunderous applause, Deepika Padukone introduced the performance of RRR’s Naatu Naatu and made a special mention of the song.
But the Bollywood superstar is really the third Indian to present at the Academy Awards.
Persis Khambatta, who was born in Bombay, was the first Indian to be invited to present an award, and she took the stage to do so in 1980 for the Best Feature-Length Documentary Film honour. Khambatta, the third Indian woman to compete in the Miss Universe pageant and the winner of Femina Miss India in 1965, is most known for her role as Lieutenant Ilia in the 1979 movie Star Trek: The Motion Picture. At the age of 49 in 1988, the actor and model sadly passed away from a heart attack.
Priyanka Chopra was the second Indian to present an Oscar in 2016. Together with Tina Fey, Jared Leto, Reese Witherspoon, Steve Carell, and J.K. Simmons, she was a part of the presenters. Liev Schreiber, an American actor and filmmaker, joined Priyanka on stage as she presented the Achievement in Film Editing nominees.
