Aamir's 'Taare Zameen Par' misses Oscar shortlist

While AR Rahman brought cheer to India with a Golden Globe for Slumdog Millionaire, Aamir Khan's much hyped directorial debut Taare Zameen Par has failed to make it to the Oscar nomination list.

Khan's film about the life of a dyslexic boy which was India's official entry to the coveted awards did not figure among the nine films selected in the initial screening for the Best Foreign Language Film category in the list released by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science, the official website of the Oscars.

Acclaimed Israeli documentary Waltz with Bashir, which won the coveted Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film and German film Baader Meinhof Complex, which looks at a terrorist group in that country are among the nine films competing for the 81st Academy Awards that will be announced on February 22.
    
The films are chosen by a committee of several hundred Academy members and will be narrowed down to five nominees by a special committee in New York and Los Angeles.
    
These nominees would be announced on January 22, 2009.
    
A film about the dyslexic child, portrayed by debutant child actor Darsheel Safary, Taare Zameen Par was chosen as India's official entry pipping other critically acclaimed works such as Marathi films "Valu" and "Tingya," Nishikant Kamat's Mumbai Meri Jaan, Neeraj Pandey's A Wednesday, Ashutosh Gowarikar's Jodhaa Akbar, Abhishek Kapoor's Rock On, Subhash Ghai's Black and White Telugu film Ghanyam.
 
The films that qualified include Revanche Gotz (Austria) The Necessities of Life,  (Canada) The Class, (France) The Baader Meinhof Complex, (Germany) Waltz with Bashir, (Israel) Departures (Japan), Tear This Heart Out, (Mexico) Everlasting Moments, (Sweden) 3 Monkeys (Turkey).