 Kingsley won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1982 for his performance as Mahatma Gandhi in the eponymous film.Alexei Barrionuevo, correspondent for "The New York Times" in Brazil, criticized the film for "failing to mention that Lula abandoned his girlfriend, Miriam Cordeiro, when she was six months pregnant".Lurian Cordeiro, Lula's daughter with Miriam, sent a letter to the editor saying that her mother was not "abandoned".