After all the hoopla about Peepli Live making it to the Oscars, much to the disappointment of many fans, the film failed to make it to the final nine. Over the years Indian films have failed to make the Oscar cut.
Film critic Taran Adarsh explains, “It’s a competitive race out there. You win some and lose some. We’ve got to understand that losing out at Oscars doesn’t mean we don’t make good movies. Peepli Live is a very well made film, but the competition at the Oscars is fierce.”
Mihir Gulati, a freelance advertiser, feels that the kind of movies being sent to Oscars are not good enough. “Most of us found the movie pretty boring. The characters in Peepli Live were not well woven together. I kept getting confused between the characters. Also, there are so many better movies which could have made it to the prestigious awards. Why do we keep showing them our villages?” he says.
So may be it’s time we stop selling “ground realities” and focus on meaningful cinema. “We have to send the right films to the Oscars. Indian directors are experimenting with a variety of subjects. Better movies are waiting to be appreciated,” says Lohit Kumar, a final year student, DU. Some fans however, have not lost hope yet.
There are many who feel that Indian movies are fast catching up with international standards. “You can’t expect us to win at the Oscars after merely three or four entries in 20-30 years. When you compete in the ‘best foreign film’ category, we are up against cinema from over 200 countries in many languages, so getting nominated itself is a big deal,” says Pralay Bakshi, audio and radio professional.