Indian entry for Oscar - Rang De Basanti
Rang De Basanti has been chosen as India's official entry for the Oscars in Best Foreign Film category.
My views on the contenders :-
Rakesh Roshan's Krrish - No doubt it was refreshing to see our own Indian superhero. But then thats it. The script is as flat as any other superhero movie.
Karan Johar's Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna - I would commit suicide, had this been selected. I wonder why at all it was considered as the probable contender! If KANK, why not Mithunda's Chingari, the only Mithunda's 2006 release till date(with all due respect to Mithunda)?
Naseeruddin Shah's Yun Hota To Kya Hota - Too hypothetical. Quentin Tarantino-ish directing style doesn't really create the necessary impression.
Raju Hirani's Lage Raho Munnabhai - I belong to a club of rare entities who didn't find Lage Raho Munnbhai Bhai extraordinary. For me it was just another 'good' popcorn bollywood film. Thats it. The strongest point of Lage Raho Munnbhai Bhai happens to be the tapori lingua. I believe the bambaiyya tapori-lingua dubbed in English might not cast the magic on the academy panel as it did on the Indian viewers.
Vishal Bharadwaj's Omkara - Rip off from Shakespeare's Othello. Probably the same reason why Black was not selected last year which gave way to the dumb Paheli. The language factor also holds true for Omkara. Oscars apart, I consider Omkara to be one of the finest movies ever made in Indian cinema history.
Madhur Bhandarkar's Corporate - No doubt, its a brilliant movie and could have been an interesting choice too.
Marathi film Bhook - Not aware of it as on today.
Telugu film Amma Chepindi - Not aware of it either.
Rakyesh Mehra's Rang De Basanti - Probably this is the first time I am happy with the Indian Oscar Entry selection. Rang De Basanti is the only movie of the lot which represents the true Indian appeal in many aspects. eg Omkara represents mainly the villages in north India, Corporate represents higher socioeconomic class, KANK represents Mars etc. Rang De Basanti represents middle class and the common man. The script is superb, simple and down to earth. Acting, direction, screenplay, background music score and the soundtrack, everything excels. Most importantly, it does have an appeal. Even though Rang De Basanti doesn't make it to the final list, I am gald with its selection to represent India at the Oscars.
PS - Munnabhai MBBS was better than Lage Raho Munnbhai. What say?
Mira Nair's Water is Canada's official entry in the Best foreign film category. That makes two Hindi movies for the Oscars this year. Personally I liked Rang De Basanti even though Water has shattered all the collection records for a Hindi film in the west.
There is this new trend of 'song and dance' sequence in Hollywood movies too, recent one being in Clerks 2 (dance sequence on the tunes of Jackson-5's ABC, which works quite well). I wonder whether its the Bollywood effect as many of the Indian movies make it to the US theatres these days. The 'Song-factor' which worked against the Indian movies in the past might work for Rang De Basanti this time. The songs are blended well with the movie (though couple of them don't hehehe). Also they are nice and catchy(courtesy A.R. Rahman).
The language factor as in Omkara and Lage Raho Munnbhai's case also worked against Mithunda's Gunda which prevented it from being the India's Oscar nominee for the year 1998. Gunda still remains the best Hindi movie till date according to IMDB with the phenomenal rating of 9.3 out of 10 as on today. Second and third are Black and Rang De Basanti respectively.
IMDB ratings:-
Black 8.6, KANK 4.5, RDB 8.5, Swades 8.4, DCH 7.9, Omkara 8.1, KKKG 7.4, DDLJ 7.7, Gunda 9.3
~*~
My views on the contenders :-
Rakesh Roshan's Krrish - No doubt it was refreshing to see our own Indian superhero. But then thats it. The script is as flat as any other superhero movie.
Karan Johar's Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna - I would commit suicide, had this been selected. I wonder why at all it was considered as the probable contender! If KANK, why not Mithunda's Chingari, the only Mithunda's 2006 release till date(with all due respect to Mithunda)?
Naseeruddin Shah's Yun Hota To Kya Hota - Too hypothetical. Quentin Tarantino-ish directing style doesn't really create the necessary impression.
Raju Hirani's Lage Raho Munnabhai - I belong to a club of rare entities who didn't find Lage Raho Munnbhai Bhai extraordinary. For me it was just another 'good' popcorn bollywood film. Thats it. The strongest point of Lage Raho Munnbhai Bhai happens to be the tapori lingua. I believe the bambaiyya tapori-lingua dubbed in English might not cast the magic on the academy panel as it did on the Indian viewers.
Vishal Bharadwaj's Omkara - Rip off from Shakespeare's Othello. Probably the same reason why Black was not selected last year which gave way to the dumb Paheli. The language factor also holds true for Omkara. Oscars apart, I consider Omkara to be one of the finest movies ever made in Indian cinema history.
Madhur Bhandarkar's Corporate - No doubt, its a brilliant movie and could have been an interesting choice too.
Marathi film Bhook - Not aware of it as on today.
Telugu film Amma Chepindi - Not aware of it either.
Rakyesh Mehra's Rang De Basanti - Probably this is the first time I am happy with the Indian Oscar Entry selection. Rang De Basanti is the only movie of the lot which represents the true Indian appeal in many aspects. eg Omkara represents mainly the villages in north India, Corporate represents higher socioeconomic class, KANK represents Mars etc. Rang De Basanti represents middle class and the common man. The script is superb, simple and down to earth. Acting, direction, screenplay, background music score and the soundtrack, everything excels. Most importantly, it does have an appeal. Even though Rang De Basanti doesn't make it to the final list, I am gald with its selection to represent India at the Oscars.
PS - Munnabhai MBBS was better than Lage Raho Munnbhai. What say?
Mira Nair's Water is Canada's official entry in the Best foreign film category. That makes two Hindi movies for the Oscars this year. Personally I liked Rang De Basanti even though Water has shattered all the collection records for a Hindi film in the west.
There is this new trend of 'song and dance' sequence in Hollywood movies too, recent one being in Clerks 2 (dance sequence on the tunes of Jackson-5's ABC, which works quite well). I wonder whether its the Bollywood effect as many of the Indian movies make it to the US theatres these days. The 'Song-factor' which worked against the Indian movies in the past might work for Rang De Basanti this time. The songs are blended well with the movie (though couple of them don't hehehe). Also they are nice and catchy(courtesy A.R. Rahman).
The language factor as in Omkara and Lage Raho Munnbhai's case also worked against Mithunda's Gunda which prevented it from being the India's Oscar nominee for the year 1998. Gunda still remains the best Hindi movie till date according to IMDB with the phenomenal rating of 9.3 out of 10 as on today. Second and third are Black and Rang De Basanti respectively.
IMDB ratings:-
Black 8.6, KANK 4.5, RDB 8.5, Swades 8.4, DCH 7.9, Omkara 8.1, KKKG 7.4, DDLJ 7.7, Gunda 9.3
~*~
posted by Dr. Amit Rajput at 12:31 AM
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