A look at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards

Hollywood has always been about honouring the talent and not the stars, and that’s why, even before the who’s who of Hollywood and the film fraternity from around the globe walked down the red carpet at the Kodak Theatre, Read More">2010’s Oscar predictions were always going to be a close call. And to top up theRead More

Hollywood has always been about honouring the talent and not the stars, and that's why, even before the who's who of Hollywood and the film fraternity from around the globe walked down the red carpet at the Kodak Theatre, 2010's Oscar predictions were always going to be a close call.

And to top up the list of the highest number of Oscar trophies this year, Tom Hooper's The King's Speech shared their joy with Chris Nolan's Inception with four golden statuettes each. Not to forget, David Fincher's The Social Network won three Oscars and David O Russell's The Fighter too came close to winning their share of accolades with two trophies.

First-time nominee Tom Hooper, the director of The King’s Speech, in accepting his Oscar for Best Director, thanked his cast and producers but saved a special thank-you to his mom, who in 2007 attended a reading in London of an unproduced, unknown play called The King’s Speech. Tom quotes, “She rang me up and said, Read More">Read More

First-time nominee Tom Hooper, the director of The King's Speech, in accepting his Oscar for Best Director, thanked his cast and producers but saved a special thank-you to his mom, who in 2007 attended a reading in London of an unproduced, unknown play called The King's Speech. Tom quotes, "She rang me up and said, Tom, I think I found your next film." And before going backstage, he added, "The moral of the story is: Listen to your mother."

But before Tom Hooper won, the film's first award for the evening was grabbed by David Seidler for The Best Original Screenplay. Seventy year old Seidler is the oldest person to win under the screenplay category. He jokes, "I believe I am the oldest person to win this particular award. I hope that record is broken quickly and often."

As expected, Colin Firth won the Best Actor Oscar for The King’s Speech. “I have a feeling my career just peaked, ” the actor joked. “I have to warn you I am experiencing stirrings somewhere in the upper abdominals, which are threatening to form themselves into dance moves. Joyous as they may be for me, Read More">itRead More

As expected, Colin Firth won the Best Actor Oscar for The King's Speech. "I have a feeling my career just peaked," the actor joked. "I have to warn you I am experiencing stirrings somewhere in the upper abdominals, which are threatening to form themselves into dance moves. Joyous as they may be for me, it would be extremely problematic if they make it to my legs before I get off stage."

David Seidler adds more humour, “My father always said to me, I would be a late bloomer, ” drawing laughs from the crowd at Kodak Theatre. Seidler went on to thank his family and the producers, director, cast and crew of the film.

David Seidler adds more humour, "My father always said to me, I would be a late bloomer," drawing laughs from the crowd at Kodak Theatre. Seidler went on to thank his family and the producers, director, cast and crew of the film.

But it was the most talked about film of 2010 which sprung up the most surprises. Many thought that The Social Network would win the Best Director and The Best Picture but neither of the two came their way, and if it would have, Read More">then this cutting edge film most definitely could’ve taken the highestRead More

But it was the most talked about film of 2010 which sprung up the most surprises. Many thought that The Social Network would win the Best Director and The Best Picture but neither of the two came their way, and if it would have, then this cutting edge film most definitely could've taken the highest number of golden statuettes home this evening. What was expected was their sure-sure wins under three categories - The Best Adapted Screenplay, The Best Original Score and The Best Editing.

The Social Network's first win came in the form of Aaron Sorkin. On stage while receiving his Oscar, he said, "Writing is something that never comes easy. I had a great time writing the film. I faced a lot of challenges. Once David Fincher got involved, and all the actors got involved, I made it happen." He continued, "It's impossible to describe how it feels. There are lot of people to thank. My agents, my mom and dad. I wrote this movie but David Fincher made this movie. He made a movie for any screenwriter's dream", the screenwriter said.

Sorkin gave credit backstage to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, the character at the centre of The Social Network, "I think he's been an awfully good sport about this. I don't think anyone would ever want a movie made about something they did when they were 19 years old." He also appreciates the contributions of Zuckerberg and others in social media for their role in giving voice to people in places such as Egypt. "When I see what happened in Cairo and other examples of social network tools mobilizing people for great causes like that, I thank the Mark Zuckerbergs out there."

Sorkin said he and David Seidler, the original screenplay winner for The King's Speech have developed a 'romance' during award season. "I think his screenplay for The King's Speech is remarkable. I couldn't be a bigger fan."