'La La Land' bags 14 Oscar nominations

Hollywood romantic musical comedy-drama film "La La Land" has picked up 14 Oscar nominations, it was announced here on Tuesday. "Lion", which is set in India and Australia, has received six nominations for the prestigious Academy Awards, which will be handed over to winners in a star-studded ceremony on February 26 here.

"La La Land", which won seven Golden Globes earlier this year, has been nominated in categories like Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Ryan Gosling), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Emma Stone) and Best Directing (Damien Chazelle).

"Lion" that tells the true story about an Indian boy who falls asleep on a train only to wake up and realise he is miles away from home in a strange land where he does not speak the language, has received six nominations. Indian-origin British actor Dev Patel won an Oscar nomination for featuring in "Lion", helmed by Garth Davis.

While it is a time for celebration for Dev, India's Oscar-winning music maestro A.R. Rahman couldn't make it to the nominations list.

Celebrities like Terrence Howard and Brie Larson joined Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs to reveal the 89th Oscars nominations in two batches.

Among the top categories, Gosling will vie for Best Actor in a Leading Role with Casey Affleck ("Manchester by the Sea"), Denzel Washington ("Fences"), Viggo Mortensen ("Captain Fantastic") and Andrew Garfield ("Hacksaw Ridge").

Stone will compete against Isabelle Huppert ("Elle"), Ruth Negga ("Loving"), Natalie Portman ("Jackie") and Meryl Streep ("Florence Foster Jenkins") for the Best Actress in a Leading Role trophy.

To win Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Oscar, Dev will have to defeat Mahershala Ali ("Moonlight"), Jeff Bridges ("Hell or High Water"), Lucas Hedges ("Manchester by the Sea") and Michael Shannon ("Nocturnal Animals").

For Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Viola Davis ("Fences"), Naomie Harris ("Moonlight"), Nicole Kidman ("Lion"), Octavia Spencer ("Hidden Figures") and Michelle Williams ("Manchester by the Sea" will have to fight it out to be victorious.

"La La Land" will face a tough competition from "Arrival", "Hacksaw Ridge", "Hidden Figures", "Lion", "Moonlight", "Fences", "Hell or High Water" and "Manchester by the Sea" to receive the Best Picture honour.

"Land of Mine (Denmark), "A Man Called Ove" (Sweden), "The Salesman" (Iran), Tanna (Australia) and Toni Erdmann (Germany), on the other hand, will battle it out win the Best Foreign Language Film award.

Best Directing nominees are Denis Villeneuve ("Arrival"), Mel Gibson ("Hacksaw Ridge"), Damien Chazelle ("La La Land"), Kenneth Lonergan ("Manchester by the Sea") and Barry Jenkins ("Moonlight").

In the Best Animated Feature, the competition is between "Kubo and the Two Strings", "Moana", "My Life as a Zucchini", "The Red Turtle" and "Zootopia".

In the music category, "Jackie", "La La Land", "Lion", "Moonlight" and "Passengers" are up against Best Original Score award.

--IANS

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