Oscars, Eklavya and all that stuff (Part 1)

Okay, I never imagined that my first post after the welcome note would revolve around a film which stars the most overrated Indian actor of all time. Those who have seen my previous comments at other blog surely know how much I dislike Amitabh Bachchan. According to me, he's just an above average actor. This opinion hasn't gone too well with a lot of persons and I got hurled with the worst expletives by them who think he's the bestestsestestest..... actor ever born. I'm not going to discuss it right now because I don't think it's the right time to do so. Let's not meander aimlessly. I'm coming straight to the point.

I don't think I can end this discussion at one go. I may have to say many things after writing this post. Thus, the "Part 1." It may even be completed with this post.

Now you know that Vidhu Vinod Chopra's film, "Eklavya - The Royal Guard," has been selected by the FFI (Film Federation of India) as the official entry to the Best Foreign Language Film category to the 80th Academy Awards 2007. Okay. I should stop being so formal. The thing is, it's gonna compete for the nomination in the Oscars.

I'll let you know my feelings about the Oscars first and then about Eklavya.

Dreading the same kind of animus I came across in public forums, I'd once again asseverate my opinions towards the Oscars. For me, Oscar is nothing but official awards ceremony to honour the leading Hollywood studios. Very seldom do they show true respect towards better CINEMA. Let me cite a few examples to emphasize that.

The classic paradigm would definitely be one and only- the guru of cinema - Martin Scorsese. It's a point which has been adduced to death. Let me join that gang please. This person didn't take an Oscar (for Best Director) until a few months back for his much-loved gangster epic The Departed. Did his calibre as a filmmaker was elevated to a status after this Oscar? The Departed was undeniably a good film. 20 years from now, will there be anyone who will remember The Departed better than Raging Bull or Goodfellas? Academy didn't bother to give away the golden statuettes for that film. So?

Wait. There's even more. The man, Orson Welles, who gave me my name (Charles Foster Kane) and defined filmmaking never won an Oscar for direction. The list goes on. Akira Kurosawa, Ingmar Bergman, Chaplin, Hitchcock et al. Their credibility as filmmakers diminished big time. For sure!

There's even more! Jennifer Hudson, the finalist of American Idol won an Oscar for, ahem, Dreamgirls despite putting forth a very average performance. Pedro Almodovar's Volver loses out to The Lives of Others. Phew! It's incessant.

Now let me come to the point of Indian films for the Oscar. Now I have made my point clear that Oscars are very trivial to me. However, many consider the Oscars to be the only global benchmark for the Indian Cinema. I support them fairly. They are somewhat right. But still, I have points to fight back with my most favourite armour- Satyajit Ray. He's the only, in the truest sense, filmmaking genius ever born in India. I had many an argument with those silly-minded people about the credibility of Ray. Of course, they, sorry, the one was unaware of the name Akira Kurosawa. Quite amusing. Ain't it? Sorry for digressing. Now my questions follow:

• Did Ray become a global phenomenon in his last days when Academy "honoured" him? Or,
• Did the Academy wanted to show its genuineness by honouring the filmmaker who was already a global figure?

Most are unaware of the fact that Academy didn't really show any great interest in presenting the award. Ray fans like Scorsese and others actually encouraged Academy to do so by saying that it would remove the "commercial" tag under the Academy. Hmm...

Now, over the years, the official Oscar entry for India has been nothing but farce. Only 3 of them got nominated. They are: Mother India, Salaam Bombay, Lagaan. We need not tell you that the FFI has a very distinct inclination towards the mainstream Bollywood and producers with heavy bank accounts. As a result, none of Ray's films were ever sent to the Oscars. Very few regional language films were sent to the Oscars.

The biggest shock came in form of the **********,******,******** entry to Oscars: Jeans. It made everything clear.

Now I don't consider Lagaan a classic or a groundbreaking film. Please refrain from vociferation. I felt it was the right and good choice. The next consternation was Sanjay Leela Bhansali's multi-million costume and opulence massacre called Devdas. It was said to be an adaptation of, hold your breath, Bengali writer Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel of the same name. I can't end swearing.

The next decision which irked everyone was the selection of Shah Rukh Khan's Paheli over, once again, Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Black. Thankfully it wasn't selected. There was such a hue and cry over it. With my ignorance of cinema, I felt it was a miserable film again in terms of writing, performance (AB), setting, direction etc. Moreover, it was such a blatant scene-by-scene copy of The Miracle Worker. Here's a scene for you. 'Nuff for you to decide. Shamelessly lifted!



Paheli, on the other hand, was quite good. Now I don't really agree with Rediff.com's Raja Sen always. Especially since he put Dhoom:2 on the Top Ten of 2006. But here he made a wonderful assessment of this entry.

I fairly agree with all the points mentioned by Raja Sen. Please see the link put above to see the whole article on why Paheli was the right choice for the Oscars. It was an unbiased view by him. Paheli worked big time because of (please don't attack me) Shahrukh Khan's layered acting, the mythological setting and a well-formed screenplay. Black was marred by Amitabh's faulty and hammy acting, excessive melodrama and emotional manipulation. Raja Sen does a better review. Go for it. This not a good summary (by me, of course), though.

So, the 2006 entry was Rang De Basanti. It was again a bad choice for me. It was a good film though. Lage Raho Munna Bhai was a masterpiece and certainly, a much better film.

Too tired for today. I'll discuss Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Eklavya once again in coming days. Tell me how's it goin' on. I'd take any suggestion wholeheartedly.

Best wishes,

CFK.