Kazir Grey was dumbfounded when he heard his name. He thought that he might not win the award this time since The Revenant already acquired a major award.
He was speechless and almost lost his mind. But then, Angelina squeezed his hand and kissed him on the cheek.
Kazir returned to his senses and found people standing up and clapping. The sensation was bizarre yet amazing.
He saw Tom yelling "Yeah!" and hugged him like a brother. Kazir was out of himself when he stood up and reached for the stage.
He walked onto the stage with his heart beating faster. He suddenly chuckled as one of the management passed the golden statue to him.
He also hugged Harrison Ford despite their cold relationship. Note that Taken trashed Air Force One at the box office and this made Harrison bitter about Kazir. Still, they were both Jews so things didn't matter. Perhaps they have a chance to work another time.
"Congratulations," Harrison said.
"Thank you," Kazir replied.
Then, Kazir found the lectern. He pulled a small card, where his acceptance speech was ready to be read.
"First of all, I'm really speechless. It's a good thing that I have something to read right now. This is a dream come true!"
The audience laughed.
Kazir started reading the prepared speech with ragged breath because his emotions were unstable.
"I want to express my deepest gratitude to the cast and crew of The Revenant who poured their hearts and souls into this film. Your dedication and talent have brought us to this moment." He felt that his eyes were getting hot.
"To my father and my brother, thank you for everything. And to the fans who watched The Revenant, your love and support mean everything. Thank you."
Then, he looked in a certain direction, he saw Angelina holding her tears.
"And to the love of my life, I love you."
Kazir didn't know that a single tear ran down his cheek as he said his speech.
The audience clapped hard, knowing well that someone as talented as Kazir deserved the Best Director Award.
Kazir was one of the directors who revolutionized Hollywood. He was the only director who created two films that surpassed $1 billion at the box office. He was also the director who created the first successful Cinematic Universe in the world. All over the world, his movies were anticipated. They love Kazir and his movies.
Even if the Academy hated movies meant for making money, they got to give Kazir Grey credit for what he did.
Kazir left the stage with a smile. Someone from the crew gave him a tissue and Kazir was confused at first.
"Ah... Don't tell me I cried on the stage?"
"Yes, director."
"..."
He was embarrassed and immediately wiped the tears. He didn't know that he actually cried.
Kazir was a depressed person who lost his reason to live. He lost everything and he had nothing left.
Perhaps he had to thank the truck that killed him... Because he understood that he was currently living the life he wanted.
'If this is a dream, I don't want to wake up.'
He was a director who fell in love with creating movies, and he dreamed of getting recognized by the Academy. And now, he reached that point.
He was now an award-winning director. He couldn't help but smile.
"I did it... Haha, I did it!"
He yelled happily as if losing his mind. Thankfully, the people understood his reaction.
The Best Director Award was the second to the last segment and Kazir was free to return to his seat when the commercial started.
Kazir was congratulated by many people when he returned to his seat. Tom Cruise was smiling from ear to ear as he waved his golden statue.
Kazir played along and waved his. They were like boys who were playing with their toys.
"I didn't about that last part of the speech."
Angelina said to Kazir, a bit blushing.
"Well, it just came out of my mouth."
Angelina giggled and rested her head against his shoulder.
"You should contact Salvatore and Harold that the party tonight is on."
"They probably know what to do, they don't need any confirmation from me."
Actually, even if The Revenant didn't win any awards, the crew would still prepare for a party. From the looks of it, the party tonight might be festive.
"Don't drink too much, I need you tonight."
"Of course."
After their little conversation, the last segment of the show started.
Kirk Douglas and Michael Douglas were the presenters for the Best Picture Award.
The nominations were:
Chicago – Martin Richards, producer
Gangs of New York – Alberto Grimaldi and Harvey Weinstein, producers
The Hours – Scott Rudin and Robert Fox, producers
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers – Barrie M. Osborne, Fran Walsh, and Peter Jackson, producers
The Pianist – Roman Polanski, Robert Bunmussa, and Alain Sarde, producers
There was no tension that Chicago won the Best Picture. After all, the award show was dominated by Chicago.
Chicago won 6 awards.
Frida and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers each won 2 awards.
The Revenant also won 2 awards.
The Pianist won 1 award.
The Revenant basically stole the awards that were meant for The Pianist... Well, Kazir was the only one who knew about that fact.
That night, Tom and Kazir had their best night ever and partied like drunkards. Thankfully, Kazir controlled himself and successfully reached the house somber... A little bit. He fulfilled his promise to Angelina and the woman was happy.
...
...
...
The day after the award show, news about the winners was published. Stories about Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, the exes winning their respective awards on the same night made headlines.
The news about Kazir crying also made a headline.
Some people were happy while some people were not. Harvey Weinstein was one of the people who were bitter about the results.
He did his best to minimize the nominations for The Revenant but it was useless in the end. Tom Cruise and Kazir Grey got what they wanted