Oscars 2022 Highlights: Will Smith Slapping Chris Rock Beats His Best Actor Win; CODA Wins Best Picture

Oscars 2022 Highlights: CODA is the best picture of the year. The Academy Award for Best Actress went to Jessica Chastain for her performance in The Eyes of Tammy Eye. The Best Director went to Jane Campion for helming The Power of The Dog while Will Smith bagged the Best Actor award for his performance in King Richard. The organisers also paid tribute to The Godfather on its 50th anniversary with three iconic personalities taking over the stage. Will Smith punches Chris Rock on stage adding more controversies to this year's Oscars. Check live updates from the 94th Academy Awards here.

Oscars 2022 Highlights: CODA is the best picture of the year. Netflix drama The Power of The Dog fetched the Best Director award for Jane Campion. Will Smith, apart from creating the controversy, also bagged the Best Actor award for his performance in the movie King Richard. He also gave one of the most viral moments from the 94th Academy Awards as he punched Chris Rock on stage for a joke on his wife Jada Pinkett. The moment has gone viral with all sorts of mixed reactions on Twitter. Meanwhile, the giants of the film industry, iconic team – Al Pacino, Francis Fors Coppola and Robert De Niro celebrated the 50th anniversary of ‘The Godfather’ on stage. BTS shares a special video message for the fans and everyone present at the 94th Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. A glimpse of Beyonce Knowles’ stunning performance is also going viral and has the internet on fire. While Dune has bagged the maximum number of awards so far – as many as six – Troy Kotsur winning for his performance in Apple’s CODA made everyone emotional. He received a standing ovation at the ceremony and gave one of the best moments from the biggest film evening of the year.

After a lot of criticism last year, the Academy has returned with the Oscars this year at a grand level. The 94th Academy Awards are taking place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood in Los Angeles and the stage is set. A few winners were declared in a non-televised ceremony and Dune has been washing up the awards with as many as six trophies in its name so far – Sound, Original Music, Edition, Production Design, Photography, and Visual Effects. The other movies that are competing big at the ceremony this year are Apple’s CODA, Netflix’s drama The Power of The Dog, West Side Story, Belfast, Don’t Look Up, Drive My Car, Dune, King Richard, Licorice Pizza, and Nightmare Alley.

Both Beyonce Knowles and Billie Eilish have grabbed their debut nominations this year in the Best Original Song category and both of them are set for scintillating performances on the stage. The 94th Academy Awards got underway Sunday off-camera, with the first eight awards on the night being handed out at the Dolby Theatre before the start of the ABC telecast, beginning at 8 pm EDT. In India, the ceremony started at around 6 am on Monday morning – March 28.

But it was a strange and controversial beginning to the first fully in-person Oscars in two years. Earlier this month, more than 70 Oscar winners, including James Cameron, Kathleen Kennedy and Guillermo del Toro, warned that the change would turn some nominees into “second-class citizens.”  After record-low ratings in 2021, the academy trimmed the live presentation of eight categories from the broadcast, which will feature edited clips of their wins. The academy also elected not to televise the early awards in the Oscars’ press room, where the red carpet pre-show continued to play, even though most stars were by then in their seats. (Most interviews were taped shortly in advance when the carpet was crowded.)

Oscars 2022 LIVE Updates: Ariana DeBose Wins Best Supporting Actress For West Side Story, Dune Bags 4 Awards so Far (Photo Courtesy: AP)

Oscars 2022 winners: Dune wins the maximum awards so far

Dune got out to an early lead, winning for production design, editing, sound and Hans Zimmer’s score initially followed by other wins. Even though the predictions were not really high on Dune, the film was expected to sweep away the technical categories at the 94th Academy Awards. Best makeup and hairstyling went to Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram and Justin Raleigh for The Eyes of Tammy Faye. While speaking about her win, she said, “I just hope that each and every day on set everyone takes a moment to just look around and look at all those talented people who work hard.”

Best Short Documentary award at Oscars 2022

The Queen of Basketball, about the basketball great Lusia Harris, took the Best Short Documentary award. Its executive producers include Steph Curry and Shaquille O’Neal. The award for the Best animated short went to The Windshield Wiper, while The Long Goodbye, a blistering fictional short starring Riz Ahmed, took the best fiction short.  While speaking about his win, Ahmed said, “This is for everyone who feels like they’re stuck in No Man’s Land. You’re not alone. We’ll meet you there.”

Zendaya rocks the red carpet at Oscars 2022 in a crop top

Zendaya is the face of Valentino on the Oscars’ red carpet. She was styled by long-time image architect Law Roach. The Euphoria star looked amazing in a custom Valentino Haute Couture look designed by Pier Paolo Piccioli. The ensemble consisted cropped double silk satin shirt and a train-flowing embellished skirt. She looked nothing but a breath of fresh air.

Oscars 2022 Red Carpet: Zendaya Just Wore a Crop Top at The Biggest Glam Night And Nobody is Even Complaining! – See Stunning Pics of Spider-Man Actress. Picture Credits: AP

Check the Oscars 2022 Highlights here: