March 5, 2017
Indian actor Ali Fazal-starrer "Victoria & Abdul", with Judi
Dench in the key role, lost out on a chance to win an Oscar at the 90th Academy
Awards here on Sunday.
The movie was nominated in two categories - Best
Costume Design for Consolata Boyle and Make-up and Hairstyling for Daniel
Phillips and Lou Sheppard.
The Best Costume Design award was bagged by
Mark Bridges for black comedy "Phantom", and in the movie Make-Up and
Hairstyling segment, the team behind "Darkest Hour" --A Kazuhiro Tsuji, David
Mallinowski and Lucy Sibbick -- took away the accolades for the prosthetic work
required to turn actor Gary Oldman into Winston Churchill.
The awards
were presented by screen legend Eva Marie Saint, who won Best Actress in 1955
for "On The Waterfront". She received a standing ovation when she took the
stage.
Helmed by Stephen Frears, "Victoria & Abdul" is based on a novel
by Shrabani Basu. It revolves around the relationship shared by Queen Victoria
and Abdul, who was a Munshi in her government. It also shows his journey on how
he became one of the most powerful figures in the court.
The role of the
queen is played by Dench and Abdul is essayed by Ali.
Ali had earlier
spoken out about the hard work that went in for the movie.
"I remember
sitting for hours in a day just for my fittings and markings. And how
meticulously Consolata Boyle would tailor them to match the period we were
depicting. It was like watching a painter unravel a masterpiece.
"The
same goes for Daniel Phillips, a Golden Globe winner, who was responsible for
all our looks," he had said earlier this year when the two nominations were
announced.