India and the Golden Boy

Jai Arjun Singh and Abhilasha Ojha try to clear the confusion surrounding Indian entries at the Oscars this year.

"Any observation one makes about India, the opposite can also be true"

"" Amartya Sen, quoting one of his teachers,
in The Argumentative Indian

The above remark fits the Oscars just as well, which is why it's always amusing to hear the conviction with which opinions are bandied about each time an Indian film is being entered for moviedom's greatest three-ring circus. (But then, like the man says, we Indians are argumentative.)

The human tendency to see a pattern in everything, to discuss trends at length and turn tenuous theories into unshakeable facts, comes into clearest focus at such times.

However, as anyone who's tracked the Oscars over a long period would know, the only certainty is that nothing is certain, at least when it comes to the foreign-language film category.

PRELIMINARY GYAAN
For instance, there's a popular belief that to stand a chance of winning, the films in contention should conform to American or European standards for quality filmmaking; that gritty dramas with a strong moral core and a clear "message" stand the best chance.

There is something to this theory, but by no means is it conclusively borne out by the actual winners over the years.

For each year that the foreign-language Oscar goes to a stark, "realistic" film that allows jury members to feel like they've made an artistically correct decision, there's another instance of a win by a movie that is a whimsical representation of cinematic trends in its own country.

Some winners of the past 20 years "" like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (Taiwan, 2000), Babette's Feast (Denmark, 1987), Kolya (Czech Republic, 1996) and Life is Beautiful (Italy, 1998) "" have been no less sentimental and/or fantasist than the average Bollywood contender.

After Ashutosh Gowrikar's Lagaan missed out at the 2002 Oscars, there was much retrospective wisdom and tongue-clucking. The film never stood a chance, people said sagely, for it was too commercial, too feel-good, too melodramatic, too long. But all this was idle chatter that failed to acknowledge a couple of important things.

First, the film that was widely expected to win that year (and which eventually came second by a very small margin) was the French blockbuster Amelie, a giddy, magic realist rollercoaster ride of a movie that made parts of Lagaan look austere in comparison. (The film that eventually did win was the anti-war drama No Man's Land, but this was perceived as an upset.)

Second, Lagaan was, all said and done, nominated, which is an enormous achievement in itself and makes nonsense of the idea that a film about cricket couldn't possibly strike a chord in the US.

Most Oscar analysts agree that the real triumph for any film is to be selected in the final five, from among the dozens of competitors in the longlist. Which of the five nominees actually goes on to win the award is usually a lottery, and depends on a number of variables that are beyond anyone's control.

THIS YEAR: THE FACTS
With Rang De Basanti, Lagey Raho Munnabhai and Water all seemingly in the fray this year, there's some confusion about where each film fits in. Let's clear that up:

The Main Contender: Rang De Basanti is the official Indian entry for the foreign-language film category. However, do remember that the film has not actually been nominated for the Oscars yet. (Going by newspaper reports, you'd think it was only one step away from winning.)

The nominations will only be announced in January, and even the film's producer Ronnie Screwvala is being cautious. "I personally feel too much has been made of RDB being entered," he tells us. "We still have to compete with 60-odd films and then, if we're lucky, we'll compete for the Oscars."

"RDB may be a hit here, but there are some fabulous films from other countries that may be closer to the jury's hearts. To be honest, how many of them really know Bhagat Singh?"

The No-Hoper: Having missed out on being the official Indian entry, the Lagey Raho Munnabhai camp has decided to try its luck by participating independently. But since Oscar rules stipulate that only one film per country can be entered, LRM can now only compete in the general categories "" that is, best picture, director and so on.

Unfortunately, what this means is that the film stands practically no chance of being nominated for anything. Very rarely in Oscar history has a foreign-language film successfully competed in general categories (usually reserved for American and British films), and no Indian movie has yet come close.

In fact, the LRM camp seems resigned to this. Director Rajkumar Hirani, when we contacted him, said: "I've started work on my next project and though Lagey Raho Munnabhai is being sent as an independent entry to the Oscars, I'm frankly not involved in it." Not the words of a man who is gearing up for a promotional blitzkrieg.

Thomas George, head, marketing, Vinod Chopra Films, adds: "Gandhiji is an international figure and LRM conveyed an important message without being preachy. We have made an honest film and won't unnecessarily hype it for international audiences."

The Dark Horse: Earlier this year, the Motion Picture Academy changed one of its long-standing rules, thus permitting a country to nominate a film that isn't in one of its official languages. This has enabled Deepa Mehta to enter her controversial Water as Canada's nominee for the foreign-language film category.

On one level, it's a shame that an Indian film has to go through other channels to compete, but on another level Water might have a better chance of making it to the final shortlist than Rang De Basanti does.

The film has already been on the international festival circuit (which always helps) and Mehta has a certain standing in Hollywood. So don't be too surprised if come January the only Indian film left in the reckoning is a movie that hasn't been released in India yet!