Explained: Guide to International Emmy Awards 2021, and India's nominations at the annual event

The 49th International Emmy Awards was conducted today, 23 November, in New York City. This award honours and recognises excellence in television programming that are produced outside the United States (US). The Emmys 2021 were presented to programmes that included non-English language shows and were in 16 categories. This year, there were 44 nominees across 11 categories from 24 countries that took part. Who was nominated from India? Among the many nominations, Vir Das , Nawazuddin Siddiqui  and Aarya bagged nominations for India. Nawazuddin was nominated for Best Performance By An Actor for his Netflix’s Serious Men, while Vir Das was nominated in the Comedy Segment. Additionally, Sushmita’s Aarya was nominated in the Best Drama category. However, Call My Agent, a French comedy show and Israeli popular drama Tehran bagged top honours. Meanwhile, artist David Tennant won the acting honour for the crime thriller titled as Des, and Norway’s famous Atlantic Crossing took home the Emmy for TV Movie/Miniseries.

I was nominated for best comedy at the International Emmy Awards, for jokes. Call My Agent, a beautiful show I love won. But I got this medal, and ate this fantastic salad. It was an honour to represent my country. Thanks so much to the @iemmys pic.twitter.com/BUmOpjzUjr

— Vir Das (@thevirdas) November 23, 2021

Here is the complete list of winners: Drama Series: _Tehran_  (Israel) Sushmita Sen’s Aarya was the fourth nominee in the category. Comedy: Call My Agent - Season 4 (France). Meanwhile**,** Vir Das: For India lost in the Comedy category. Best Performance By An Actor: David Tennant - Des (UK). Furthermore**,** he could not attend the event as he was filming in Scotland. Also, Nawazuddin was nominated in this category for his Netflix’s series Serious Men.  Best Performance by an Actress: _Hayley Squire_s - Adult Material (UK) Short-Form Series: The Song Of Glory (PR China) TV Movie / Mini-Series: Atlantic Crossing (Norway) Non-Scripted Entertainment: The Masked Singer (UK) Documentary: Hope Frozen: A Quest To Live Twice (Thailand) Arts Programming: Kubrick By Kubrick (France) Non-English Language U.S. Primetime Program: 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards (USA) Which other Indian shows have been nominated previously? From the past few years, Indian content has been gaining nominations at the International Emmys. Last year, web series _Delhi Crime_ won the Best Drama Series award at the 48th International Emmys, which was held virtually owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the first Indian TV programme to win an International Emmy. However, other nominees also include Lust Stories for best TV movie or mini-series and Sacred Games Season 2 in 2019. Even, Amazon Prime Video’s Four More Shots Please! was selected in 2020 in the best comedy category. Last year, actor Arjun Mathur of Made in Heaven was nominated in the best actor category.