Ravish Kumar Attends Peabody Awards Ceremony In Beverly Hills

Photo: @ravishndtv

India-West News Desk

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Peabody Awards made their Southern California debut at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on June 9. Hosted by Kumail Nanjiani, the 84th annual ceremony honored notable figures including Mel Brooks, Quinta Brunson, and the Star Trek franchise.

Indian documentary filmmaker Vinay Shukla and journalist Ravish Kumar were also recognized. Shukla’s documentary, ‘While We Watched,’ has garnered international acclaim despite limited support in India. The film highlights the challenges faced by India’s media under previous Modi governments, earning praise at prestigious film festivals such as Busan and Toronto. Peabody described it as a “timely depiction of a newsroom in crisis.” The documentary follows Kumar as he navigates through fake news, declining ratings, and cutbacks, all while striving to maintain fact-based reporting.

This year’s event was significant not only for being held in Los Angeles for the first time but also for being the first in-person ceremony since the pandemic forced it to go virtual in 2020 and the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes led to its cancellation last year.

After the ceremony, Kumar expressed his thoughts, writing, “I was in Los Angeles on June 9. Vinay’s film ‘While We Watched’ received the Peabody Award here. It was a wonderful evening. I met people doing remarkable work in documentary and entertainment in LA. It was gratifying to see Vinay Shukla’s team among them. I met people from different geographical areas and had many conversations. My English is limited, so once the event ended, I quietly absorbed the evening. I remembered the audience and their love, knowing that I was there because of them.”

In a tweet posted by Peabody, Kumar noted that his work had not changed, but the award was “like cake after a bad dinner!”

‘While We Watched’ is streaming on @mubiindia.