Hollywood did Bollywood proud today at the Dolby Theatre in LA by remembering Shashi Kapoor and Sridevi, who passed away on December 4 and February 24 respectively, during the In Memoriam section of the 90th Academy Awards.
The American rock band Pearl Jam’s lead singer Eddie Vedder performed Tom Petty’s Room at The Top while the In Memoriam montage played and images of artistes like Chuck Berry, Roger Moore, Sam Shepard, Jeanne Moreau, Tome Sanders and Jerry Lewis among many others flashed on the screen. In between them, to audiences in India’s great surprise, were Shashi Kapoor and Sridevi.
Actress Jennifer Garner, who the segment, said, “Every storyteller knows that there is no joy without sorrow. Tonight, as we celebrate the achievements of our collaborators, we also mourn the loss of those who brought joy and awareness through their passion for the movies. The work they left us, as Academy Award winner Audrey Hepburn said so beautifully, ‘Gives pleasure, creates beauty, awakens our conscience, arouses our compassion, and perhaps most importantly, gives millions a moment of respite in our violent world.’ Though no longer in our midst, their contributions endure.” she continued.
She concluded by introducing Eddie Vedder and saying, “And now, we remember their lives and their impact on motion pictures with a song from an inspirational artist (Tom Petty) we lost this past year.”