The Great Indian Oscar Debate

Every autumn (or fall as it is known here in the land of the Oscars), a committee appointed by the Government of India chooses the official Indian entry to the Oscars for a nomination in the Best foreign film category. Like anything that is connected remotely to the government, the entire process is invariably linked with controversy and to the common man; the entire process seems a futile exercise. More often than not, the official entry is not the sentimental favorite. That would work out fine if the jury sent sensible films to the Oscars. Previous entries like Jeans, Paheli & Saagar don’t fit the bill by a large margin and one is left wondering how movies like Roja, Ek Ruka Hua Faisla , Satya, Lakshya, Monsoon Wedding or even Sholay never made it to the list.

Going through the list of nominations over the years, the movies that I feel really deserved to be on the list are Mother India, Manthan, Saaransh, Salaam Bombay, Bandit Queen, Earth and Shwaas. Even Lagaan for all its pomp and show, drama, cricket and patriotism made for a poor choice compared to Monsoon Wedding, a crisp 90 min movie that brilliantly portrays contemporary Indian urban life against the backdrop of a wedding.

Agreed that you can’t win all the time and this category is one of the most competitive one but shouldn’t we sending movies that atleast give a correct picture of India. I work in the US and still have to answer questions regarding the great Indian rope trick, child marriage and Sati. This inspite of the tremendous progress we have made in the past ten years. Movies like Jeans don’t help.

This year however seems to be different. The official Indian entry is “Taare Zameen Par”, a beautiful and sensitive story about an 8 year old dyslexic kid. The movie is particularly pertinent in a society like ours that refuses to accept disability in more ways than one and preventing them from being a part of the mainstream. With the kind of awareness that is already there in the US regarding dyslexia, the film may not actually appeal to the Oscar panel but it nonetheless deserves to be our official entry for the role it played in sensitizing all of us into accepting all that we perceive to be “not normal”.

My best wishes to the entire “Taare Zameen Par” team… thank you for the job that you have already done. You are already winners in our eyes.

And thank you to the jury for not goofing up this time around.