Payal Kapadia reacts to historic Golden Globe nomination for All We Imagine As Light, fans say she has made India proud

Payal Kapadia's acclaimed film earned two nominations at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards. She is the first Indian filmmaker to be nominated for Best Director.

Payal Kapadia just scripted history at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards. For her debut fiction feature, All We Imagine As Light, she bagged a nomination in the Best Director— Motion Picture category. The director reacted to the nomination and expressed her gratitude to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for the recognition. (Also read: Golden Globe Awards 2025 full list of nominations: Emilia Pérez sets record with 10 nods; All We Imagine As Light gets 2)

Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine As Light released in Indian theatres last month.

Payal Kapadia's statement

In a statement, Payal 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 theaters—please go watch it and support us!” All We Imagine As Light released in theatres on November 22.

Payal is nominated in the category alongside Jacques Audiard for Emilia Pérez, Sean Baker, Anora, Edward Berger for Conclave, Brady Corbet for The Brutalist and Coralie Fargeat for The Substance.

All We Imagine As Light also scored a nomination in the Best Motion Picture in a Non-English Language category. The other nominees were Emilia Pérez, The Girl with the Needle, I’m Still Here, The Seed of the Sacred Fig and Vermiglio.

Fan reactions

Reacting to the nominations, Anil Kapoor tweeted, "All We Imagine as Light earns 2 Golden Globe nominations - Best Direction & Best Foreign Film! What a monumental recognition of Indian cinema and the storytelling prowess of @PayalKapadia86! So incredibly proud!"

Many noted the film's award season rule despite not being selected by India as the official entry. “Really happy to see what 'All We Imagine as Light' is achieving in every awards without getting nominated by India or France,” read a comment. A fan said, “Payal Kapadia for the win!” “History is made! India is so proud!” said a second fan.

The Malayalam-Hindi movie follows Prabha (Kani Kusruti), a Mumbai nurse whose life is thrown in disarray when she receives a rice cooker from her estranged husband. Divya Prabha plays Anu, her roommate and colleague, who is struggling to find a private spot in the city to spend time with her boyfriend. Prabha’s best friend Parvati (Chhaya Kadam), a widow, is being forced out of her home by property developers.

It is an official India-French co-production between petit chaos from France and Chalk & Cheese and Another Birth from India. The film had won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival in May.