Oscar Drama with an Indian Setting
by Andre Soares
When not making movies, Indian film personalities seem to spend a lot of their time fighting one another in court.
Following the long soap opera revolving around allegations of bias and corruption at the National Film Awards, the Mumbai High Court has found the Film Federation of India’s (FFI) pick to represent the Indian film industry at the Oscars was "prima facie biased."
This latest courtroom drama began when filmmaker Bhavna Talwar (left) and WSG Pictures, whose Dharm (above, top photo) was passed over as India’s Oscar entry in favor of Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Eklavya: The Royal Guard (above, lower photo), filed a petition alleging favoritism.
In their petition, Talwar and WSG claim that selection committee director Sudhir Mishra and members Jagdish Sharma and Ranjit Bahadur were close to Chopra, adding that Bahadur was the editor of a promo for Eklavya.
Talwar has publicly remarked that by choosing Eklavya as India’s submission for the best foreign-language film Academy Award "the FFI is embarrassing not just the film industry but also the whole country." Dharm ("religion"), the story of a Brahmin priest who befriends a four-year-old, came in a close second in the FFI voting.
Curiously, even FFI chairman Vinod Pandey wasn’t all that pleased with the committee’s selection.
"It was a shock to me that Dharm, a competent, poignant and relevant film, didn’t make it," Pandey told The Times of India. "Dharm was technically brilliant, outstanding in terms of photography, sound design, art design and had nuanced performances. The only thing it did not have were superstars."
Eklavya, about a devoted royal guard, stars Indian film icon Amitabh Bachchan.
The High Court has ordered the FFI to respond within 10 days.
The Times of India discusses Eklavya’s Oscar-worthiness — or lack thereof.
India’s National Film Award’s Melee
RANG DE BASANTI, THE YACOUBIAN BUILDING Submitted for Oscar Consideration
Oscar’s Foreign-Language Film Potential Contenders: 2nd Round
Deepa Mehta’s WATER Is Canada’s Entry for the Oscars
Karnataka State Film Awards - 2006 Winners
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