Drama over BJP politician on India’s Oscar jury

The inclusion of a right-wing Hindu politician-turned-actor in a prestigious jury tasked with selecting India’s official Oscar entry has sparked off a debate in the run-up to the 88th Academy Awards, which will be held on February 28, 2016, in Los Angeles.

The man at the centre of the row is a little-known actor from Gujarat, Naresh Kanodia, who is not only an active member of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party but was elected as a legislator from Gujarat’s Karjan constituency on a BJP ticket in 2002. He lost in 2007.

Kanodia has acted in 65 films but refuses to disclose his age. He is a regular at BJP programmes and campaigns for BJP candidates during elections. He is from Gujarat — Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state.

“Kanodia doesn’t deserve to be in the same room as the rest of us judging films when the screening of entries starts in Hyderabad from September 17,” a jury member told tabloid!, on condition of anonymity.

“We are aghast. This is not on — some of us will consider resigning from the jury if Kanodia is not shown the door.”

Kanodia called his selection a “miracle”, adding that he was looking forward to travelling to Hyderabad to watch quality films and choose one to represent India at the Oscars.

Outrage and condemnation has swept social media over rumours that Kanodia was appointed chairman of the 17-member jury to pick India’s submission in the Best Foreign Language Film category of the 88th Academy Awards.

But the rumours turned out to be untrue when Mumbai-based Film Federation of India (FFI) announced that Amol Palekar, a widely-respected director, producer and actor, would head the jury.

“We have selected Amol Palekar as the head of India’s Oscar jury. He is an eminent film personality,” Supran Sen, secretary general of the Mumbai-based FFI told PTI.

The ruling BJP’s determination to pack cultural bodies with its loyalists, not even sparing libraries and archives, has angered liberals who oppose the politicisation of the arts by appointing candidates they consider unqualified to key positions.

The elite Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune, western India, has been paralysed since June over the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan, a minor actor and BJP leader, as chairman. FTII students say Chauhan is a blot on the prestigious institution and are relentlessly demanding his ousting.

Backing the students are Bollywood’s leading lights who have decried the appointment of Chauhan, known for his roles in Hindu religious TV serials such as Mahabharat and some B-grade movies.

Protesters, who have brought FTII to a standstill and have refused to give up until Chauhan is sacked, say they are prepared to talk only to the Prime Minister after negotiations with Arun Jaitley, minister for information and broadcasting, broke down.

The FTII stand-off has pitted India’s leading intellectuals and film personalities against the BJP national government that appointed Chauhan. Even Anupam Kher, a BJP sympathiser whose wife, Kiran Kher, is a BJP MP, wants Chauhan to be replaced by a more acceptable personality.

FFI President JP Chowksey said it’s unfair to compare Kanodia with Chauhan “who is a bad actor and has done pornographic films”.

“But Kanodia is a well-known name in Gujarat with an impressive body of work who has been picked on the basis of cinematic merit.”

Nominations for India’s Oscar entry have started pouring in. The deadline for entries is September 12. Screenings will take place in Hyderabad from September 17 and by September 23 the jury will zero in on one submission to represent the Indian film industry at the Oscars.

The deadline for sending the entry to the Academy is October 1. Only those films that were commercially released in India from October 1, 2014, and ran for at least a week are eligible for nomination for an entry fee of Rs50,000 (Dh2,767).

Palekar told the Hindi TV channel Aaj Tak that he was honoured to head the Oscar jury. “I consider it an achievement although my own career is a proof of my contribution not only to movies but to the stage.

“Since my appointment, I have started working on the yardsticks to measure a good film worthy of representing India. I will present my views to the jury so that we can collectively arrive at a formula for judging the entries”, he said

— S. N. M. Abdi, noted Indian journalist and commentator, writes for Gulf News.