The Film Federation jury has come under flak for choosing ‘Paheli’ as the Indian entry for Oscars. Some have come out strongly against the judges
The Film Federation jury has come under flak for choosing ‘Paheli’ as the Indian entry for the foreign film category race of the prestigious Oscar awards. Questioning the credibility of their decision, the ‘losing’ filmmakers have come out strongly against the judges, which include commercially unsuccessful directors like Harmesh Malhotra, Vinod Pandey, Jagdish Sharma and Vikas Mohan. Is box office success a necessary pre-requisite to make a valid judgment? Is the current methodology of choosing a film for the awards redundant? Do we need a fresher approach? After Hours finds out...
The winner
Shah Rukh Khan: "I and the rest at Red Chillies are quite pleasantly surprised at the jury’s selection. I hope to make it work for us."
The jury
Vinod Pandey: "We are very proud of our choice of film. It was a unanimous decision after an exhaustive discussion and resolute recommendation. We have written the recommendatory piece in the form of a citation. The film was chosen because it has cinematic excellence, directorial competence and truly seeped in Indian ethos, in terms of language, music, design, costumes. It was a very human and heart-rending story and I truly think it was the most deserving film to go to the Oscars.
How can they question the credibility of the jury members? It was the same jury that had chosen ‘Lagaan’. The pressure then was even more than it is now, but we fought for ‘Lagaan’ because we truly believed in the film. It is a matter of deep anguish to us that our credibility has been questioned. It is not like we callously sit around and pick up one film at random.
If their films had been chosen, they would have definitely not said the things that they are saying now. Dil jodega to dil tootega bhi. All the filmmakers whose movies were not chosen are self-opinionated. They do not seem to realise that it is a heavy responsibility. One cannot be petty when one is sitting on that chair. The most pressure on us was from Sudhir Mishra’s ‘Hazaron Khwahishe Aisi’. I just wish the filmmakers were more graceful."
The ‘losers’
Sudhir Mishra: "I feel fantastic. When you accept the jury, I guess you have to accept their decision too. But I do think all the recognised institutions of the industry - right from cameramen to the technicians, should be allowed to vote for the film that goes to the Oscars and not merely producers. There should be some methodology and not random selection. Anyway, I wish the best of luck to SRK. His hard work begins now. May he win the Oscars."
Madhur Bhandarkar: "I am disappointed. I do not know how the jury is formed and how they function."
The industry opinion
Prakash Jha: "I do not understand why the media always questions the credibility of a particular jury. Why not criticise the jury before the judgment is passed?"
Harry Baweja: "Firstly, we do not know the criterion for selecting a movie that will represent us at Oscars. And since we do not know, we are to be blamed for whatever film that goes for it. But I think if we have put together the jury, we should trust them too."
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