The Curious Case Of Miley’s Missing Eyebrows

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.