The jury which selected 'Eklavya' as India's official entry to the Oscars may declare the vote of one of its members as invalid as he was directly involved with the movie.
MUMBAI: The jury which selected 'Eklavya' as India's official entry to the Oscars may declare the vote of one of its members as invalid as he was directly involved with the movie.
The jury met on Sunday in order to take a final decision on whether they should stay with Eklavya, nominated last month to compete in the best foreign film category, or choose another movie. It is yet to take any decision in this regard.
This in turn could have a bearing on the final decision of the selection committee on Eklavya's fate at the Oscars, jury head and Film Federation of India chairman, Vinod Pande said on Sunday.
Bhavana Talwar, whose film `Dharm' was one of the short-listed movies by the FFI jury, filed a petition last month alleging bias.
In particular, Talwar's lawyer alleged that Ranjit Bahadur, one of the jury member, had been editor of promotional films of both 'Eklavya', as well as Chopra-produced blockbuster 'Lage Raho Munnabhai'.
"Bahadur admitted in an affidavit that he had been editor for promos of 'Eklavya' and 'Lage Raho Munnabhai'. Yet he was one of the members in the selection committee. Hence, there was a unanimous feeling among the jury that his vote should be declared as invalid," Pande said.
According to Pande many of the members did not know till date about this fact.
"If Bahadur's vote is cancelled, it can affect the final decision of the committee on the issue of our official entry to Oscars," he said.
Pande, however, refused to comment on what bearing it would have on Eklavya's fate.
"It will be unfair on my part to make such a comment without the members of the selection committee taking an official decision in this regard," the FFI chairman said.
"Final decision was pending as the jury will meet again tomorrow. We hope for a decision before October 17, the final deadline for India to send its official entry to Oscars," he added.
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