Three Indian shows have been nominated at the 2020 International Emmy Awards with Arjun Mathur from Made in Heaven in the best actor category, alongside More Shots Please and Delhi Crime in the best comedy and drama series, respectively. Winners will be announced at a ceremony taped from New York City on November 23. The 48th edition of the event, organised by the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, has announced names of 44 nominees across 11 categories from 20 countries in the world of global television.
Usually held two months after the glittering, well-publicised primetime Emmy Awards in September, the International Emmy Awards recognises the best in television shows produced and aired outside the United States. The nominees for this year's International Emmy Awards come from countries as diverse as Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, apart from the United Kingdom and the United States. “We are especially proud to recognize and honour the world’s best storytellers, producers and performers,” said Bruce L. Paisner, president and CEO of IATAS in a press statement.
IATAS, part of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, gave its first International Emmy Award, as it is known today, in 1973. But the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences had begun to recognize programming outside the United States with an "International Award" in 1963 itself to "promote international understanding and to bring to the attention of the American public the outstanding television programs presented in different countries around the world."
Winners in those early days include shows like War and Peace from Granada Television (UK) in 1963 and Le Barbier de Seville from Societe Radio Canada in 1965. The American Emmy Award itself is given all through the year, awarding the many sectors of the television industry, but Primetime and Daytime Emmy Awards are the most popular.
Last year, India had multiple nominations at the International Emmys including Netflix anthology Lust Stories for two International Emmys - Best TV Movie/Mini-Series and Best Actress for Radhika Apte alongside Sacred Games for Best Drama Series, reality show The Remix for Best Non-Scripted Entertainment and Witness: India's Forbidden Love for Best Documentary.
None of them won any awards. Amongst the Indian nominees this year, the 2019 Amazon Prime original Made in Heaven has remained one of the most talked about web shows in the way it critiqued big fat weddings and Delhi's ultra-rich. Arjun Mathur's portrayal of a wedding planner struggling to keep his homosexuality a secret was widely acclaimed.
