Golden Globes: Payal Kapadia loses Best Director award to Brady Corbet

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It was not a fortunate day for an Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia and Indian fans at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards 2025.

Held January 5 at the iconic Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, the Golden Globe Awards is an annual awards ceremony for excellence in film and American television productions.

Her film ‘All We Imagine As Light’ received two nominations, for Best Director and Best Foreign Language Film and at the Golden Globes 2025.

In the Best Director category, Kapadia’s film ‘All We Imagine As Light’ lost to Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist.” She faced tough competition from Jacques Audiard (Emilia Perez), Sean Baker (Anora), Edward Berger (Conclave), Corbet (The Brutalist), and Coralie Fargeat (The Substance).

Her film ‘All We Imagine As Light’ was also nominated for the Best Non-English Language Motion Picture category but was lost to Emilia Perez.

Despite the loss, Kapadia was spotted cheering for other winners with a smile on her face. She attended the awards ceremony wearing an ensemble from Payal Khandwala. She opted for a handwoven silk black jumpsuit with a pop of red.

Her film stars Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam, Anand Sami, and Hridhu Haroon in the lead roles. It is currently streaming on Disney + Hotstar.

The film follows Prabha, a troubled nurse who receives an unexpected gift from her estranged husband, and Anu, her young roommate seeking intimacy with her boyfriend. A trip to a beach town allows them to confront their desires.

‘All We Imagine As Light’ premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival in its much-feted ‘competition section’ on May 23. It was the first Indian film to feature in the festival’s main segment in 30 years. The last Indian movie to make it to the competition section was Shaji N Karun’s Swaham in 1994.

And in December, a golden moment was etched in the history of Indian cinema with Kapdia becoming the first Indian director to receive a Golden Globe nomination for Best Director.

Payal did not win any award at Golden Globes but she surely made Indians proud by earning a nomination for her labor of love ‘All We Imagine as Light’.

Reacting to the nomination, in a statement, Payal earlier said, “I’m deeply honored by this nomination and grateful to the HFPA for this recognition. This is a celebration of everyone who worked so passionately on the film. To everyone in India, All We Imagine as Light is still in theatres–please go watch it and support us!”

Recalling India’s presence at Golden Globes, in 2023, Naatu Naatu, the foot-tapping hit from SS Rajamouli’s RRR, danced its way to the best original song-motion picture win at the Golden Globes, but the Telugu blockbuster lost out to Argentina, 1985 in the best picture-non English category.

The Golden Globe Awards 2025, telecast in the US on Sunday night, streamed live in India on Monday on Lionsgate Play.