As film submissions get underway for Oscars 2018, India is caught in a customary hand-wringing on why its movies are never a hit at the Big Daddy of all movie awards. Despite an abundance of cinematic talent, and a prolific output of more than 1,000 films per year by Bollywood alone (almost double the number of its American counterpart, Hollywood) and not counting regional fare, an Indian film has never bagged an Oscar.
This collective simmering discontent usually bubbles to the surface around this time of the year when directors/filmmakers/actors pontificate on what can be done to improve India’s chances on the big stage. In a recent article, veteran actor/director, Amol Palekar, whose film Paheli was the official Indian entry to the Oscars in 2006, rued the country’s flawed selection process that kept him completely out of the process of how his film was selected. Palekar urged that if India wants to be in the reckoning for Oscars, it should start playing the game professionally.
Underwhelming as it is, out of a nation of 1.3 billion, no film — and only five Indians, Satyajit Ray, Bhanu Athaiya, Resul Pookutty, A.R. Rahman and Gulzar — have won the Oscar so far. Ray received an honorary award in 1992, while the others were part of movies made by foreign production houses.
Despite sceptics who deny the Oscars’ relevance, accusing its selectors of bias towards ‘white’ cinema and western actors over Black or Asian ones, there’s no denying the awards’ enormous symbolic and pragmatic significance. With more than 30 million viewers, a redoubtable jury, and a putative historic legacy, the Oscars are indeed the greatest movie show on Earth. The coveted prize is now universally acknowledged as a symbol of achievement in global entertainment. Conferred for the first time in 1929, it is also the oldest film prize in history.
Yet, Indian filmmakers remain impervious to what works at the Oscars. Worse is the controversial choice of selectors each year and the politics and infighting among them. As some critics have pointed out, the Indian selection committee — comprising around a dozen eminent members from the film world — depends overwhelmingly on the commercial success of a movie, while ignoring other critical benchmarks. Vested interests further undermine the chances of good films while the below-par ones get a ticket to ride at the tax payers’ expense.
One of the most respected voices in global cinema, Derek Malcolm, had once declared that “Indians choose the most terrible scripts”. Indeed, the biggest problem confronting Indian cinema today (especially Bollywood) is the lack of originality and a weak storyline. What passes muster instead is peddling of stereotypes, formulaic dialogues and utter disregard for western tastes.
It’s not that India doesn’t make good movies. It does. But for every one luminous Dangal, there are 10 puerile Dabanggs. Masaan, The Lunchbox, Gangs of Wasseypur, Aadukalam (Tamil) and Drishyam (Malayalam) are all good films. But what do we do instead? We ignore these and pack off mediocrity — such as Eklavya — The Royal Guard, which even the Indian audience had rejected — to the Oscars!
In the year 2012, India sent Barfi! as its official submission. Never mind if its numerous scenes were allegedly plagiarised by its maker Anurag Basu from several international classics! Ironically, Barfi! was chosen over other better (and original) films like Kahaani, Paan Singh Tomar and Dirty Picture.
Most illustrative is the example of Danny Boyle, director of the Oscar-anointed Slumdog Millionaire, who swept the coveted academy awards despite being a foreigner, and working on a shoestring budget with fresh faces sheared of ‘star power’. How did he pull this off? Simply by offering an immersive experience of India with his flesh-and-blood characters and compelling storytelling that transported viewers (and the jury of course) to Indian slums. Similarly, Life of Pi and Gandhi — both Indian in their theme and made by non-Indians — struck it rich at the Oscars for their powerful content.
With globalisation, Indian filmmakers and selectors need to be in tune with western tastes. Even smaller nations like Taiwan or Japan and Iran are making their mark simply by embracing a more global film-making approach. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon not only bagged an Oscar, but it was liked by millions worldwide, propelling its Taiwanese director Ang Lee’s career into the stratosphere in Hollywood.
Given India’s enormous creative talent and prolific cinematic output, its time filmmakers and selectors offered well-crafted films, with inclusive representation from regional cinema as well, to the Oscar jury. And then, who knows, maybe even a Salman Khan starrer may bag a glitzy golden lady or two?
Neeta Lal is a New Delhi-based Editor and journalist.
