King Khan in Hollywood

HOLLYWOOD REEL/ Will 'Paheli' get an Oscar nomination?

Shah Rukh Khan

Last December, on a pleasant evening in Los Angeles, a white Bentley Arnage pulled up in front of the "Nirvana" restaurant in Beverly Hills.

Dressed in trademark black, the superstar of Indian Cinema, Shah Rukh Khan, stepped out to attend a special event held in his honour and to promote his film "Paheli" for an Oscar nomination.

SRK as he is commonly known, first came to the fore while appearing on various television series, particularly when playing the role in "Fauji". He made his debut in Hindi films in 1992 with Deewana and has not looked back since then. In 2004 his production company, Red Chillies Entertainment, produced "Main Hoon Na" the second biggest hit of the year.

His latest film as a producer and lead actor, "Paheli" is up for consideration as India's official entry for the 78th Academy Award as the Best Foreign film. For Shah Rukh Khan, the film's entry is itself a vindication that he can go on making more such films.

That evening in Beverly Hills as he met with the high and mighty of Hollywood, Khan modestly admitted "I've been told that here in Hollywood, "Paheli" is rather entertaining, which is strange, because in India it was not entertaining enough and it tanked at the box office.

In India, Shah Rukh has won 13 Filmfare awards and a Padam Shri and two of his earlier films "� "Devdas" and "Hey Ram" "� were India's entry at the Academy Awards. But does his latest film "Paheli", with its rustic colourful look and great performance by the lead actors, have any chance of being short listed in the 'foreign film' category at the Oscars?

Shah Rukh feels, "I think it's a long shot but it's a good chance of getting Indian cinema some recognition." For him it's the prospect of promoting the Indian film industry in Hollywood and in North America that is really exciting. "I am already talking about India making an impact on world cinema. I really want people to see India as a window of opportunity," says Khan.

Hollywood Producer Ashok Amritraj, who sits on the Academy's Board for Foreign Film, says, "I don't think Indian films are being noticed as much as one would like. If you were to compare them with any of the other countries in the world, China being an obvious comparison, India's not in the mainstream. Two nominations in 100 years does not mean India is being noticed. All it means is that particular film in that particular year was noticed."

But "Paheli" has been noticed this year. For million of fans across the world Shah Rukh Khan is a icon and now Hollywood too has heard of this South Asian phenomenon. Rogers and Cowen, one of the biggest publicists in Hollywood, have planned the film's promotion.

The company is distributing 'Paheli' DVDs to the members of the Academy and creating a buzz to ensure that the jury members watch the film at the two official screenings The film has already got good press.

Full page advertisements of 'Paheli' are appearing in trade magazines such as Screen International and Variety. Jury members in Hollywood are reported to be already making enquires about this film from India.

Meanwhile, last week in Hollywood, 5,798 nomination ballots for the 78th Academy Awards were mailed to voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Till then, the fans of SRK can hold their breath!