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Lagaan for Oscars; New Horizons for ARR?

Topic started by WhyNot (@ 203.24.100.131) on Sun Nov 4 10:51:50 EST 2001.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Lagaan has been unanimously chosen as India's entry for Oscars Foreign Film Category for 2002. It beat Monsoon Weddings and Asoka. Though this is not the first ARR movie to be chosen, with Jeans selected in 98, this is definitely a more credible choice.
Will this mark a new beginning or open up newer horizons for ARR? As ALW's Bombay Dreams is more a Broadway production, this may introduce ARR to Hollywood in a big way. Or will Lagaan just find itself piled in the garbage can, following the very first round of selections, as all past Indian entries have?

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Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: WhyNot (@ 203.24.100.132) on: Mon Apr 15 03:50:13 EDT 2002
  
  lagaan, interesting article. Do u have any link?
  
  My view on this is that the author makes a flawed argument that "In the event, to covet a western prize for an Indian film is, in the reverse gear, like General Motors looking for an ISO certificate from Bajaj scooters!"
  [How ironic that for such an analogy, the author uses Bajaj Motors to represent the academy and GM to represent an Indian film. A sign of "poverty of self-esteem"?]
  
  The author seems to take for granted a few things.
  Indian cinema, he quickly concludes, is superior becos 1)it produces the most no. of movies, 2)deals in the most number of languages and 3)"has had an array of great craftsmen - like Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Bimal Roy, to name just a few".
  Hence, he concludes, to want an Oscar is a sign of poor self-esteem.
  This is a flawed argument IMO. Since when did quantity add to quality? And how many of those great craftsmen are involved in making majority of those large number of movies, which makes up point 1?? Can anyone honestly say that Indian movies are superior in quality to the quality of movies tat win Oscars every year?
  
  And then the author goes on to condemn the validity of the Nobel prize and also adds insult to the Booker prize and the Miss Universe pageant. He paints the parading of the winners of such awards as a sign of "lack of self-belief and self-esteem." I'd like to steer clear of discussing these awards as well, here.
  
  The truth may be simpler than the author's pessimistic conclusion, which seems to stem from his own lack of belief in his fellow countrymen.
  
  Anyone who wins an award is celebrated.
  
  If someone from a small town wins a state award, he gets paraded by his town people. Someone from ur own state winning a national award will be treasured by the people in his state. Likewise, someone winning an international award is likely to be treasured by his fellow countrymen. To call this a sign of inferiority complex seems far-fetched to me. To go global is a human drive. It exists not only in Indians, but in all people all over the world. Oscars may be an American thing, but its foreign film feature, like the rest of the awards, are watched closely by people all over the globe. In Australia, there was nail-biting frenzy for their gal Nicole to win best actress. It's simply about getting recognition by more people outside your own usual sphere.
  
  "....- these things should make us happier than..."
  Who does the author think he is to define what should make us happier?
  
  "as the American actor-director Woody Allen said the other day.."
  Oh dear, when there are so many Indians the author could quote on this subject, why choose an American?? A sign of impoverished self-esteem?? I dont think so. As that would be indeed a flawed argument.
  
  I know the author is a well respected journalist, but with all due respect to him, I beg to differ on calling the Oscar frenzy a sign of poor self esteem.
  
  
• From: WhyNot (@ 203.24.100.132) on: Thu Apr 18 08:23:55 EDT 2002
  
  More on Lagaan:
  
  "Lagaan, directed by Ashutosh Gowariker and produced by Aamir Khan, nominated for Best Foreign Film at the 74th Annual Academy Awards, has won the top prize at the prestigious Nightfilm Festival Award in Denmark.
  
  The Indian blockbuster competed with 142 movies at the event, at which all Copenhagen cinemas participated recently, a Danish Embassy release said.
  
  Nightfilm Festival and the Danish Filminstitute award an Audience Prize of Rs 5,60,000. Lagaan is expected to be screened in cinema halls all over Denmark later this year."
  
  http://www.rediff.com/entertai/2002/apr/17lagaan.htm
  
  
• From: Anjali (@ ) on: Tue Feb 25 07:20:40 EST 2003
  
  Dear Sirs,
  With all the respect to our culture and our traditions and even religion,i might say that our indian films are not at all popular in any westeren countries.Most western countries show indian films as they do all other countries films and to my knowledge only the People from indian continent live here visit the cinemas .You can hardly see one european or american among those in the cinemas.Our films are not popular at all as it is painted in indian news media everyday.Lagan had no chance at all to win any award anywhere outside indian continent.Most indian films are only full of bullsh among those 1000 films we produce only 1-5 becomes popular in india rest 995 is just scrape only for indian filmgoers to pass time the only recreation in our country.We do make good films but ONLYFOR INDIAN public not for any outsiders.Sorry but facts are facts.Look the AKSH film by amitabh was just a piece of SHI. but became very popular among indians who has nothing else to entertain temselves with.Lagan in Denmark only viewd by indians,pakistanis,and bangladeshi and srilankans i saw one white lady in crowd who was married an indian and was ofcourse forced sentimentely to join him against her wishes.Sorry have anice day
  
  
• From: Fliflo (@ 146.186.113.179) on: Tue Feb 25 08:46:34 EST 2003
  
  Anjali..Peeled off the shell in one shot..what do you think the reason for this?
  
  Quality?
  Discrimination?
  Negligence?Oversight?
  Language?
  Different Sentiments?
  Ignorance?
  Publicity?
  
  ...mmmm...or should we care too much for other's appreciations and not having belief in ourselves? Have we not always been like this?
  
  
• From: Fliflo (@ 130.203.165.160) on: Wed Feb 26 07:53:33 EST 2003
  
  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?artid=38647907
  
  An article about why indian movies do not live up to the mark.
  
  

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