Read the link below
http://www.hollywood.com/movies/feature ... re/1098465

Reflection
Aks
There is a stranger in your mirror

I have not watched Amelie yet but sure hope the best deserving film wins- I think Lagaan is losing out cause not many non-Indian people have watched it yet. It desperately needs an official opening in US to even be considered a nomination.

It is a shame that 'Lagaan' got chosen as the official Indian entry to the 'Oscars'. Not because "Lagaan' is a bad movie, but rather 'Monsoon Wedding' is by far a superior film. Not only has 'Monsoon Wedding' outshone "Lagaan' at ever film festival that the two have been entered at, 'Monsoon Wedding' has also won the premier prize at most of the Festivals it has been entered at. Infact 'Monsoon Wedding' already had a buzz in Hollywood as a prime candidate for 'Best Foreign Language Film'. It is due to this that Miramax had picked up the US rights for the film. But alas no Oscar for India, since it is 'Lagaan' and not 'Monsoon Wedding' that will compete, due to the ugly politics of Bollywood. Mira Nair obviously being an outsider from the US while Amir has a very strong foothold in the Bombay film industry.

PS: If you have not seen 'Monsoon Wedding', do yourself a favor and watch it. It is easily one of the best Hindi (actually Hindi, English & Punjabi mixed) movies in a long time.

I don't think Lagaan got chosen because of bad politics in India-if that was the case it would not have been chosen at all, Aamir Khan has already disallowed his film from entering any contest or competition in India and infuriating officials there except from the National award. Monsoon Wedding is a good film but in the western context so that makes it superior to Lagaan. The question remains do we want a good Bollywood film to win or a "western friendly film"? Also I would not go so far to say that it is a shame that Lagaan got to go instead of Monsoon Wedding actually I am proud it got sent. It does not matter if it wins or not.