India out of Oscar race...again

India out of Oscar race...again

The question that we again need to ask ourselves is, why do we send films to the Oscars when we neither have the wherewithal nor the funds to lobby for the honour?

With Mahesh Tamhane's highly-acclaimed Marathi film Court out of the race of the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, another year goes without our official entry making it to the Academy list. Out of the 80 foreign films that were submitted for the Oscar, nine have been selected, and there is no Indian film in it.

The question that we again need to ask ourselves is, why do we send films to the Oscars when we neither have the wherewithal nor the funds to lobby for the honour?

Consider this. Director Mahesh Tamhane made Court from the money that his producer-friend Vivek Gomber put in by selling all his disposable assets. After the film was completed and released there were no funds left.

Tamhane and his producer-friend where unable to even go to LA to support their film let alone muster the funds to lobby for the Oscar. In 2013 Gyan Correa had gone with his Gujarati film The Good Road to LA when it was selected as India's entry for the Oscar. Correa had spent two weeks in LA. But returned empty-handed, and clueless as to how the Oscar is won.

Let's hope we stop sending films to the Oscars until we figure out how to crack the code.

http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report-india-out-of-oscar-race-again-2159513