On December 15, India's dream to bring home an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film Category was shattered when Visaranai, the official entry, failed to earn a spot in the Top Nine. The last time India was shining at the Academy Awards was in 2001 when Aamir Khan's Lagaan made it to the Top Five, losing out to Bosnia's No Man's Land. The quest for the elusive Oscar continues even 15 years later. Vetrimaaran's Tamil drama battled 84 foreign language entries from around the world. And like it has happened so far, the film travelled a few miles before making an exit from the competition.

WHERE ARE WE GOING WRONG?
Every year, the Film Federation Of India (FFI) appoints a jury to select an entry. From the movies sent in the last decade alone, only Harishchandrachi Factory and Rang De Basanti stood a realistic chance to make it to the Top Five.

Oscars are clearly not won by mere stories and performances. After getting the official nod from FFI, a movie goes through several stages of self-promotion to draw eyeballs and votes from the 6000 members of the AMPAS (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences). This requires a budget, which this year, was sanctioned by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

For executive producers of Visaranai, Aalif Surti and Guneet Monga, the experience of campaigning for the film was an eyeopener. Surti says, “Many Indian films could not run a campaign correctly for the lack of money and guidance. Government funding is a big help because we have to battle deep-pocketed studios. We have to place ads in influential publications in America and pick the best agents to promote the film, which is an expensive deal. In the case of our film, Dhanush, our producer, also pooled more than the film's budget to get us this far. We also need to select our entries in India a little earlier than we usually do because we lose out on getting a headstart in the Oscar race - be it in procuring the services of the top publicists or getting slots for screenings. By the time we reach their shores, the screens and agents are booked by other films. While India's reputation as a filmmaking nation has improved, it needs to now play its game correctly. Lobbying is an accepted practice there and we must play by their rules to make a mark. The atmosphere in the USA right now is like Chandni Chowk in the wedding season. They mean business and so should we.“

Amol Palekar, the actor-filmmaker who has been on both sides of the fence - as a selector as well as a filmmaker whose film Paheli was sent as an official entry, adds, “Oscars should be treated as one of the international platforms for our movies. Their game has to be played by their rules. I remember when Marathi film Shwaas was sent as an entry, the filmmaker's American expedition was funded by the aam junta. But the filmmaker ended up holding screenings for Marathi-speaking Americans who don't even have a vote to cast for the film to be selected in the next round. It was a loss of money and time, right? If you have to win a game, you have to adhere to the rules, be focused and unabashed about that. It's simple.“

Ketan Mehta, who headed the selectors' committee this year, believes that sending multiple entries could also be a way to cement India's position at the Oscars. “India is not a one-language nation. It's important that we try and send at least two entries across our 21 languages to represent our cinema,“ he says.

DIVIDED CHOICES
Each year, the selection process for the official entry is marred by controversies and blame games, which hasn't thankfully happened this year. Visaranai beat strong contenders like Neerja, Nil Battey Sannata, Udta Punjab and Sairat to become India's official entry. Point this out to Mehta, and he says, “Yes, we were amazed with the entries this year. Visaranai was a good choice. But every year, a set of jury members will not come up with an entry that will be accepted with similar ease.“ Last year, Marathi film Court's selection came under a cloud. Filmmaker Rahul Rawail reportedly walked out of the committee as he didn't like the way Palekar, the chief, functioned.

WHY AN OSCAR MATTERS TO INDIAN FILMMAKERS?
Filmmaker Shyam Benegal was the torchbearer of parallel films in India and made the kind of cinema that could have easily appealed to the western selectors. He says, “An Oscar is an asset only if you are seeking an international reach. Otherwise, an average Indian doesn't care about a film winning an Oscar. The foreign language category is helpful to films from Europe and South America because it widens and deepens their market.“

Anupam Kher, a veteran who has been to the foreign shores several times with his films being sent as official entries, differs. The actor insists that the reason the Oscar awards are so sought-after is that there is a system of selection, which doesn't happen here. “I'm not one of those who will say that the Oscars are not important. Yes, we shouldn't be obsessed with the Academy Awards and must not lose heart if we don't make the cut. I haven't seen the film that has been sent from India this year, but let's face it, we have also sent a lot of mediocre films in the past which affected our reputation in the West,“ he says.

Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt believes that no filmmaker became great because he won an Oscar. Satyajit Ray, he says, never made films to appeal to an international audience but the Oscar committee was forced to recognise his work. “We have to decide who we are making our films for, a foreign jury or a nation of 2.1 billion people with myriad tastes. It is the consumer who decides how good your product is, and not an award from a foreign country. But if you want to rub shoulders with the foreign film market, it has to be on their terms without becoming them. Mother India qualified for the Oscars because it had a deep-rooted Indian story. It's an example to learn from. Years later, Danny Boyle used India as his canvas to fly at the Oscars. The writing is on the wall my friend. Read it!“ he sums up.