This might be my naiveness, but I suspect that the corporate India has a blind eye to all options but enticement as a means of internal upgrade.

Actually the move is in the reverse direction, though there is a long way to go

http://us.rediff.com/movies/2005/sep/29bolly.htm



Bollywood divided on Paheli choice

The furore over Paheli as India's selection for the 2006 Oscars continues.

Here are some industry reactions to the Shah Rukh Khan movie being chosen to represent Indian cinema:

Subhash Ghai, director: Paheli represents India's colours, culture, ethos and mythical beliefs. It's based on an original work of an Indian writer from Rajasthan. These are elements that may have tilted the scales towards Paheli away from other good films. I'm on the Emmy Awards jury and I know how tough it is to judge when there are so many deserving creations. I'm happy my Iqbal was considered for this honour. I'm happy for Shah Rukh and his team.


Asha Parekh, actress: I can't understand how Paheli was selected. I feel it should have been Black or Veer-Zaara. Both of them are such lovely films, and with such a positive message of humanism.

Vipul Shah, director: It's surprising. No one expected this. But if the jury didn't want Black to go, then there wasn't much choice.



Shabana Azmi, actress: Paheli is absolutely the most appropriate choice. In fact, when we saw the film, Jadoo [her nickname for husband Javed Akhtar] had told Shah Rukh Khan, 'you really try to get Paheli to the Oscar!' The film is an appropriate representation of the best in Hindi cinema. It has a delightful story, which consists of fantasy, reality, dance, and folktale. It's a story that works as a parable. There are so many things in the film. I am very happy with the jury's choice.

Victor Banerjee, actor: I think Paheli is a worthy enough choice that represents the the spirit and colour of India.


PaheliMadhavan, actor: I think Black should have been selected for the Oscar. This is clearly not a fair and unbiased selection. My heart reaches out to Mr Amitabh Bachchan and Mr Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

Anant Mahadevan, director: Frankly, it beats me why we don't delve into regional cinema to represent us at the Oscars. They have some world -class cinema in Bengali and Malayalam. But strangely, till today, an Adoor Gopalakrishnan, whom I rate on par with [Satyajit] Ray and [Ritwik] Ghatak hasn't found an Oscar entry. Still, if Paheli found favour it must have been due to its author Vijaydan Detha. His story is deep-rooted in Indian culture and tradition. Paheli needs to be trimmed down to a 100 minutes. It may then stand a good chance of favourable viewing. Black fell out of favour for its obvious source [Arthur Penn's 1962 classic, The Miracle Worker] of inspiration. Paheli has some stunning visuals.


Hansal Mehta, director: When people talk about Black not being original, I'm dismayed. There's hardly a frame in Black comparable with The Miracle Worker. Also, what do they mean by calling Paheli more original? Mani Kaul filmed the same story as Duvidha two decades ago. As for the language, Black speaks the language of the heart; sign language doesn't have to be in English or Hindi.

Inputs: Subhash K Jha, Indrani Roy Mitra

I think it is not Sarook or AB camp etc!! It is simply matter of qualification here!

It was huge viewers disagreement on submission of Devdas or Andaaz, no one from Industry spoke out!

But in a country where Their National BEST is Saif for HUM TUM, no doubt PAHELI is worth OSCAR

Being a remake*, Paheli may not really make it... but then, SRK is a lucky man. Who knows...

(*Based on Mani Kaul's Duvidha)

But Mani Kaul's Duvidha was based on the known folk tale with the same name by Vijaydan Detha (or something like that). Amol Palekar just adapted that.

I watched Paheli last week, and it isn't too good. There's very little conflict in the entire film and it doesn't go deeper than what happens in the story.

And I read that there is a film called Retour De Martin Guerre which was nominated for an Oscar and has a very similar plot.

I totally agree, it was superficial, slow, enengaging and boring despite a lot of colors!

Bright colors and giant turbans...the whole film is like a stereotype of what Westerners thought India looked like.

yup lol, kum ka mela!

Just a note -- In India, Paheli did not have mass appeal. It flopped on the box office.

Actually Mangal Pandey is still a better movie than Paheli for oscar nomination.

I disagree. MANGAL PANDEY is a complete masala movie based on a historical character. I think it's ok to add characters or to change SOMETHING for dramatization of the movie (just like FINDING NEVERLAND), but MANGAL PANDEY just went too far. All those songs, and what were Rani and Amisha doing there? That's why I think PAHELI is a better choice, it's a simple slow Indian folk tale and has more chance of winning than MANGAL PANDEY. At least the flaws of PAHELI are less then MANGAL PANDEY's.

I still think they should've sent SWADES or RAINCOAT.

Well, if you are disappointed with PAHELI selection, what about Morning Raga. If you agree with Morning Raga, you got your wish.

Now, let's see if either of the two make the first cut to Top Five??

Whether Morning Raga cuts or not..I bet wont!! But still, I feel better!