Why can't Indians win Oscars? Is it cuz our movies hv songs? - Page 2

Originally posted by: Reeva_Mohan

If Parasite cn win Oscar then y not Bollywood

Y no film industry guy win Oscar excpt AR Rahman.

Agree dat our movies hav songs but what's the harm in dem. Dats our own style to create escapist environment as a break frm seriousness.

Madonna even said she wanted to work with AR Rahman, but never happened.

So that is saying something at least. 😉

Slumdog Millionaire won. La La Land won. It's not the songs.

Most movies we send have been technically sound movies addressing social issues in India. Village Rockstars, Jalikattu, and Court, are all fantastic movies.

But the west has us stereotyped as larger than life movie makers. There is also a desire for poverty p0rn in the west when it comes to foreign language films.

That is why I kind of get some of the RRR for Oscars talk. I didn't care for the movie as much but it has the chutzpah that might just make us win. Not that we need it.

Oscar’s voting pool is around ten thousand people, large majority of them probably aren’t familiar with Indian movies at all. Unfortunately people tend to vote for what they’ve seen and what they are familiar with. Majority of Oscar foreign language movies that win are European or South American movies.

Originally posted by: Maroonporsche

What if they slap 🤣

It’s not like the Oscars are an unbiased or merit-based institution. Even the domestic nominations and awards are mostly the result of internal lobbying and entertainment politics, not exceptional skill. “Parasite” became a pop culture phenomenon for reasons of which I’m not entirely sure. The only “Indian” movie I can think of like that was “Slumdog Millionaire”, which was a Danny Boyle movie. None of the others have managed to generate that kind of broad appeal, not even “Lagaan”. I think “Kashmir Files” would have played well. Or if Bollywood did a “serious” biopic of Gandhiji, Indira Gandhi, mother Theresa etc, Oscars voters shower love on movies about high profile political or activist figures. Attenborough’s “Gandhi” swept the Oscars in its year I think including costume design for Bhanu Athaya.

(@wat_up - sorry I don’t know why my post auto-tagged you)

Originally posted by: GaramAloo

It’s not like the Oscars are an unbiased or merit-based institution. Even the domestic nominations and awards are mostly the result of internal lobbying and entertainment politics, not exceptional skill. “Parasite” became a pop culture phenomenon for reasons of which I’m not entirely sure. The only “Indian” movie I can think of like that was “Slumdog Millionaire”, which was a Danny Boyle movie. None of the others have managed to generate that kind of broad appeal, not even “Lagaan”. I think “Kashmir Files” would have played well. Or if Bollywood did a “serious” biopic of Gandhiji, Indira Gandhi, mother Theresa etc, Oscars voters shower love on movies about high profile political or activist figures. Attenborough’s “Gandhi” swept the Oscars in its year I think including costume design for Bhanu Athaya.

(@wat_up - sorry I don’t know why my post auto-tagged you)

You don't just get nominated for Oscars. It's a long and expensive campaign. For most Indian studios, it isn't worth it to put that kind of money into an Oscar run.

Lunchbox was the one film that had the right buzz and content to actually get an Oscar campaign going. I think if it had been selected as the Indian entry, Kashyap and Karan at that time would have pushed it because they were both in better positions too.

RRR is a different case altogether. It seems to have become a phenomenon of it's own. It's popular enough that it might sneak through without the usual campaign. But it's not the kind of film that gets nominated in that category.

I do think streaming will somewhat make it easier for Indian films to find international popularity and some of the more stylistic directors to get international fame, like a lot of East Asian filmmakers do. Rajamouli, Bhansali (Gangubai has taken off in a lot of random countries) etc.

It is just a shame that Oscars is so biased. Otherwise this movie would've own most awards hands down just because of the powerful acting.

https://twitter.com/jibransiddiqui/status/1428013316081922049?s=20&t=oLX1HlAnYDmrNeSk1cEgBA

Songs have nothing todo with it, otherwise a movie like Slumdog millionaire would not have been watched by the American audiences( yes this movie was made by an American but still it had Indian actors, Indian composer, etc). I am sure it’s some other reason.

Originally posted by: semantic.error

You don't just get nominated for Oscars. It's a long and expensive campaign. For most Indian studios, it isn't worth it to put that kind of money into an Oscar run.

Lunchbox was the one film that had the right buzz and content to actually get an Oscar campaign going. I think if it had been selected as the Indian entry, Kashyap and Karan at that time would have pushed it because they were both in better positions too.

RRR is a different case altogether. It seems to have become a phenomenon of it's own. It's popular enough that it might sneak through without the usual campaign. But it's not the kind of film that gets nominated in that category.

I do think streaming will somewhat make it easier for Indian films to find international popularity and some of the more stylistic directors to get international fame, like a lot of East Asian filmmakers do. Rajamouli, Bhansali (Gangubai has taken off in a lot of random countries) etc.