Oscars countdown: Here's who we think will win

Both Olivia Colman (left) and Anthony Hopkins have Oscar nominations for their work in 'The Father' - the film is also nominated in the Best Picture category.

The Oscars are a crown jewel for any Hollywood movie. This year, the awards are being announced at the fag end of a long season due to the Covid-19 pandemic and, honestly, the fizz is out. But that doesn’t prevent us from playing the game of prediction where we guess the awards even before they are presented.

We start with the best picture category where eight films are competing for the award. The Frances McDormand-starrer Nomadland is the clear frontrunner with The Father being the dark horse. Directed by Chloe Zhao, the film has earned six Oscar nominations. McDormand plays a woman who leaves her home after the death of her husband and travels the length and breadth of America.

Also read: 'Nomadland' review: Discover yourself in this film about houselessness

In the best director category, we have David Fincher (Mank), Chloe Zhao, Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman), Lee Isaac Chung (Minari) and Thomas Vinterberg (Another Round) competing for the award. Chloe Zhao is the frontrunner.

In the more exciting race for the best lead actor award, we have Riz Ahmed, Chadwick Boseman, Anthony Hopkins, Gary Oldman and Steven Yeun. While most Indians will be rooting for the understated Ahmed, he only has an outside chance. Boseman may become the first lead actor since Peter Finch (Network) won the award posthumously.

Frances McDormand is tipped to win the award for the best lead actress with the rest of the illustrious set of actresses coming in at a distant second. Viola Davis, Andra Day, Vanessa Kirby and Carey Mulligan did well to earn their nominations, but are unlikely to take home the award.

Sacha Baron Cohen, Daniel Kaluuya, Leslie Odom Jr., Paul Raci and Lakeith Stanfield are competing in the category for best supporting actor. Kaluuya may walk away with the award, but Cohen’s performance would have been good enough in any other year.

If the season started with Olivia Colman as the favourite to win the award for best supporting actress for her stellar turn in The Father, Juh-Jung Youn is leading the pack now. If she wins, Juh-Jung Youn will become only the second Asian ever to pick up an acting prize. The other contenders in this category are Maria Bakalova, Glenn Close (who is being nominated a record eighth time) and Amanda Seyfried.

Aaron Sorkin may have won the Golden Globe for the best original screenplay writer for The Trial of the Chicago Seven but when it comes to the Oscars, the pundits are betting big on Emerald Fennell for her work on Promising Young Woman. If she wins, Fennell will be only the second solo female writer to take home the award after Diablo Cody for Juno.

In the technical categories, the best cinematography award is likely to go to Nomadland, which has won all the top honours this season. But Mank is also in contention. The other nominees in this category are Judas and the Black Messiah, Mank, News of the World and The Trial of the Chicago 7. 

Mank is the frontrunner for the production design award with the picture winning every award this season with the only real threat coming from Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. 

Also read: 'Mank' leads Academy Awards nominations with 10 nods

Ann Roth might become the oldest woman, at 89, to win the award in the costume designer category for her (as usual) splendid work for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. You can also safely bet that this film will win the award for best makeup.

The smart bet for the best film editing award is on Sound of Metal. The best achievement in sound award will also probably go to this movie.

One Night in Miami is really a song you should hear if you can. This song has dominated the awards season and no eyebrows would be raised if it wins the best original song award.

My Octopus Teacher is our fav to win the award for best documentary feature. This Netflix original film has its creator  Craig Thomas recording a year he spent with a wild common Octopus in a South African kelp forest.

Another Round from Denmark might take home the best foreign movie Oscar. In this film, four teachers undertake an experiment in which they imbibe alcohol on a daily basis - watch it to find out the effects.

Obviously, this has not been a great year for Hollywood. But the overall quality of the movies has been reassuringly high. Some of these movies will be seeing a widespread release in India as in previous years. We'll have to do our best to catch the best of the best when we can, where we can.