Rang De Basanti is India's official entry as best foreign film for the Oscars.

Water is Canada's entry (Oscar rules changed this year and Water qalifies as Canada's entry in best foreign film category).

Which film you think has better chance ??

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Mods:
I had another poll option, "RDB < 50%", just like Water. But it didn't get in the poll. I'm unable to edit it now, could you pl either add this option or change the "RDB 50%" to "RDB < 50%".
Thanks.

Water by miles!

Mehta has that ENG INTERNATIONAL VERSION TOO?

BTW WATER is also THE BEST SOUNDTRACK of 2006 imho

per this article RDB maybe released in the US formally for mainstream audiences, though i dont quite get how it maybe any different from other Hindi language films that have tried this....however WATER is a Hindi film and has done remarkably well in the US, so they may have something going on for it.......read on

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1055129

RDB’ heads to the Oscar’s

Faheem Ruhani
Monday, September 25, 2006 21:50 IST



It official now. ‘Rang De Basanti’ has been chosen as India’s entry for the Oscars by the Film Federation of India (FFI). Filmmaker Basu Chatterjee, who chaired the jury, made the formal announcement yesterday evening.

“We are all very, very happy,” said an elated UTV CEO Ronnie Screwvala. “I am sure the jury had a tough time making the decision but we are all very glad that it has happened.” ‘Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna’, ‘Omkara’ ‘Krrish’ and ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’, ‘Corporate’ and ‘Yun Hota to Kya Hota’ are some of the films that were also in contention.

Screwvala made it clear that UTV would go the whole hog to make sure that the film gets a level playing field in the final round. “I think Aamir has lots of experience having been there five years ago with ‘Lagaan’. So we are definitely going to use his knowledge. Moreover, we have Disney as our world partner and we have a special relationship with 20th Century Fox. So, we are going to pull out all stops. The competition is going to be interesting because we will be competing against some exceptional films in the best foreign film category.”

In fact director Rakeysh Mehra, who was recently in the US to meet renowned scriptwriter Syd Field, is going to help the makers give the final cut of the film for international audiences. The makers are also aiming to give RDB a mainline release in the US between December and February, and have enlisted the help of two major studios. The film has even inspired a TV news channel in Pakistan called ‘Awaz’.

I can't see RDB's violent, morally-questionable narrative going down well with mainstream American audiences. To be honest, I think they would've liked 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' a lot more.

I agree!! I'll post my take on munna 2

my take on munna

viewtopic.php?t=9014&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15

KANK should've been nominated. And I think the idea of making an "international edit" is a bad idea. What makes Bollywood unique are the musical numbers and those are usually the first to go when they shorten them. That's the reason why the West loves Bwood so they should just leave these films alone.

Good point though I think i do believe RDB's violence will work in its favour since its the frustration that manifests thus (mind you I am not condoning it in any way) which could strike a chord. Ends that create conflicts in one's minds are usually lapped up imo and happy endings seldom are(LRMB had a happy, world's a great place to live in type of ending).

Overall it was a difficult decision to make though I would have chosen LRMB over RDB simply because its message is EXTREMELY important for the world at large, and ofcourse immediately would have been conflicted by the decision(who says we dont have a Hamlet dwelling within us!!!).

Glad it was not me on that jury

Well, LRMB is also competing for the Oscars. It's producers have decided to send this film independently.

Nope, you are using that one statement out of context. My response to Stephen was I thought he made a good point but disagreed that the violence in RDB will go against it which is completely different from whether I agree with it! This I included in parantheses.....so where did you miss my point ?

water was an excellent film, and I think it has a good shot at getting nominated… though I don’t think it wld win

What? You're joking right. KANK was truly awful, one of the worse films to come out of India in years. And the west certainly does not love Bollywood, they don't take it seriously and who can blame them. Only once in a while does a film like Lagaan come when everything is done right. Rememeber in the screening for Devdas by the judges that choose the nominations for the oscars, it was so bad that people were walking out.

Water has more of a chance just because it deals with a controversial subject, shows India as backwards, panders to a western audience and is NOT Bollywood. Any Indian film that is not bollywood is already in the good books of western critics and has a chance to win awards as evidenced by Monsoon Wedding, Salaam Bombay, Bandit Queen, etc.

I'm not Indian and can actually judge from a Western point of view on this. I think that while the home audience has widely reviled KANK, it's one that the Western audience can embrace more. Everyone I know who has seen the film has enjoyed it. I think it just shows the wide divide on how different audiences react to different films. I'm not saying that the West has embraced Bollywood, but there have been a lot of inroads in recent years. There also has not been enough emphasis among filmmakers in trying to market such films to a Western audience (rare film reviews in newspapers or ads targeting the mainstream media). I honestly believe that there is a lot of potential for Bwood films to make more of an impact if the film companies want it to happen. They can easily hire a Western PR firm, host more screenings, champion films that a Western audience would enjoy (ie. KANK for example), etc. It's not impossible. I don't think that Devdas was necessarily the best choice to be promoted either years ago (not my fave movie). My take is don't change the content of the films, but promote the films that have been liked the most by that audience.

I voted for "Water". It is more likely to win the award than RDB.