Director Gyan Correa, whose debut Gujarati film "The Good Road" was announced as India's official entry to the Oscars, hopes that "The Lunchbox" makers Karan Johar and Anurag Kashyap overcome their disappointment and see his movie as "India's film".
Anurag and Karan were upset after the committee selected the Gujarati film over their production venture "The Lunchbox", which was being touted as a strong contender.
"They are disappointed now but I am sure that after few days everything will be alright and they will support my film. It is not my personal film. It's India's film. People like Anurag Kashyap and Karan Johar are my seniors and they will surely give me an advice on how to go about it from here on," Gyan told PTI.
'The Good Road' beat 22 other films including Bollywood hits "The Lunchbox", "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag" and "English Vinglish" to become India's representative at the 86th Academy Awards to be held in March 2, 2014.
"First time and I really mean it, first time I really was excited because first time we knew we had a chance, first time I was waiting for it. I don't know who the federation is but it goes to show, why we completely lack the understanding to make films that can travel across borders," Kashyap had posted on Twitter minutes after the announcement.
Echoing the same sentiment, director-producer Karan had tweeted, "Really shocked and disappointed. 'The Lunchbox' had every factor working in its favour, we may have just lost our golden chance. Sad."
Gyan said he had no idea that his film was being chosen as India's official entry to the Oscars in the foreign language film category.
"I never expected such a big recognition for my dream film. I was completely left numb when I heard the news. I got to know about it from a journalist, who congratulated me for the recognition. I had no clue about it at all," Gyan said.
The movie, which also won the 60th National film award in the Best Gujarati film category, was released in Gujarat on July 19.
