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Hollywood's biggest night was high on glitz and glamour but lacked the edge and excitement of the movies it was celebrating, observes Sukanya Verma.
For once, the drama kick started even before the awards did.
Be it the devastating fires in Los Angeles, not too far from the Dolby Theatre, venue for Oscar's annual ceremony since 2001 or the uproar surrounding its various nominees.
Winner of the Jury Prize and Best Actress at Cannes, Jacques Audiard's audacious musical crime drama Emilia Pérez started out as a hot favourite nabbing a whopping 13 nominations. But the controversy stirred by its lead Karla Sofía Gascón's social media comments, first openly transgender actor to be nominated for an Academy Award, proved to be rather self-destructive.
It did.
Youngest Oscar winner for The Pianist in 2003, Adrian Brody appeared all set to score his second for playing a Holocaust survivor chasing the American Dream in The Brutalist until his allegedly prosthetic nose and AI-aided accent began to suggest the scales may have tilted in Timothee Chalamet for his Bob Dylan biopic, A Completely Unknown's favour. It did not.
Donald Trump dismissed Sebastian Stan's portrayal of his 20-something real estate businessman avatar in The Apprentice as 'human scum'.
Said to be one of the most unpredictable Oscars in recent times, even know-it-all pundits had a hard time picking a sure shot candidate for Best Picture.
Turns out, pretty much no one goes home empty handed with Anora and its five Oscars win taking the lead, including a Best Actress upset with Mikey Madison's sassy stripper ousting strong competition like Demi Moore and Fernanda Torres, followed by The Brutalist, Emilia Pérez, Wicked, Dune 2 and Conclave.
Back home, there was outrage over the Film Federation of India picking Kiran Rao's Laapataa Ladies as India's submission at the Oscars over Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine As Light, which garnered a Grand Prix honour at Cannes and believed by most to stand a better chance of landing in Best International Film category on the heels of its Golden Globe nomination.
Meanwhile, Anuja, India's only shot at glory in the Best Live Action Short, lost out to Dutch film I'm Not A Robot.
Hollywood's biggest night was high on glitz and glamour but lacked the edge and excitement of the movies it was celebrating.
Sukanya Verma offers everything good, bad and ugh that caught our eye.
Things started off on a spectacular note with Wicked's singing sensations, Ariana Grande's rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow and Cynthia Erivo's Home followed by their breathtaking duet, Defying Gravity Home, receiving a standing ovation.
They paid soulful tribute to a city bouncing back from the devastation caused by the wildfire in Los Angeles.
First time Oscar host Conan O'Brien's gig was a mixed bag.
He joked.
He danced.
And he parodied popping out of Demi Moore's body as part of The Substance spoof. While some of his jabs hit a sweet spot, the roasting felt like a case of the blahs.
Let's first focus on the good bits.
Like the time he took a potshot at Emilia Pérez's contentious Best Actress nominee: 'Anora uses the F-word 479 times. That's more than the record set by Karla Sofía Gascón's publicist. Karla, if you are going to tweet about the Oscars tonight, my name is Jimmy Kimmel.'
Other burns included, 'We are halfway through the show, which means it's time for Kendrick Lamar to come out and call Drake a paedophile' alluding to the feud between the two rappers.
His only political contribution in a mostly safely played ceremony was in response to Anora's Oscar sweep: 'I guess Americans are excited to see somebody finally stand up to a powerful Russian.'
Now for the absurd part: Conan talking in Hindi!
If the idea was to endear himself to a groggy international audience, let's just say pronouncing Bharat as Bharoot is certainly not the right way to go about it. Whatever mumbo jumbo he muttered next certainly didn't sound like the subtitles splashed on screen.
Adam Sandler pulling off an Adam Sandler by skipping the designer route and showing up at the Oscars in a hooded sweatshirt and shorts was, honestly, a welcome change in a sea of actors doused in excessive decorum and hollow courtesy.
Back in 2003, Best Actor winner Adrien Brody's infamous smooch on Halle Berry's lips highlighted the mad joy he felt on his first win for The Pianist.
Circa 2025, Berry recreated the moment for the red carpet engaging in a 'payback' lip lock.
What do you know? He grabs his second Oscar for The Brutalist.
We'll take Berry and Brody kissing over the latter's snooze of a speech any day.
A neither shaken nor stirred James Bond tribute nobody asked for, which did little, except tragically remind us, that the suave British agent will be joining the OTT factory soon with Amazon procuring complete creative rights to 007's iconic franchise.
The 97th Academy Awards was big on musical odes and profound acknowledgement, and understandably so when it comes to the fire fighters or departed legends.
Except Mozart's Lacrimosa felt too grandly grim a choice for its In Memoriam section.
And the selective focus -- as special it was when Morgan Freeman spoke about his co-star Gene Hackman -- reducing icons like David Lynch, Maggie Smith, Donald Sutherland and James Earl Jones to two-second thumbnails felt like a betrayal.
From Timothée Chalamet's ultrasound image to Mick Jagger in the flesh, Oscars humouring the entire age spectrum was a nice touch.
More often than not, the emotionally teeming speeches of visibly moved Oscar winners is our favourite part of the event. This year had its moments albeit too few and far between.
It was wild to watch Anora director Sean Baker return on stage every few minutes and share some warm, witty, wise words for his multiple wins.
Best Supporting Actress winner Zoe Saldana (Emilia Perez) sobbed at the sight of her ‘Mumma’ and exulted at being the first Dominican heritage actor to win. Wicked’s Costume Designer Paul Tazewell made Oscar history by becoming the first Black winner in the category.
But the most important speech was delivered by recipients of the Best Documentary for No Other Land, Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham and Palestinian activist Basel Adra.
'There is a different path. There is a political solution without ethnic supremacy, with national rights for both of our people. And I have to say, as I'm here, the foreign policy in this country (the United States) is helping to block this. Why? Can't you see we are intertwined? That my people can be truly safe. His people can be truly free and safe.'
Peak nostalgia happened as Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey walked up to offer a mini The Color Purple reunion and celebrate musician Quincy Jones' legacy as well as When Harry Met Sally star Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal (and Best Oscar Host of all times) coming together, last seen recreating their chemistry from the classic rom-com in a mayonnaise ad.
What's Oscars if not fashion or statement?
Between Halle Berry's disco ball inspired gown, Demi Moore's sparkly silver and diamonds design, Timothée Chalamet's pastel yellow suit, Adam Sandler's athleisure, Miley Cyrus's curious case of missing eyebrows and Guy Pearce sporting a Free Palestine pin, take your pick.
