America
India lose sheen at Oscars 2015, but had its triumph moments
By
Sugandha Rawal India's no show at the 87th Academy Awards may have left cinema-lovers
sulking, but a cursory glance at the time-line of filmdom's most
prestigious award highlights spread of Indian flavours at the ceremony.
From Bhanu Athaiya, Resul Pookutty to A.R. Rahman, several stalwarts
have clinched the coveted golden statuettes in the past.
Oscars
2015 have come with a disappointment for Indian fans as none of India's
probable contenders could make it to the final shortlist.
Four of
Rahman's compositions - three from "Million Dollar Arm" and one from
"The Hundred-Foot Journey", stood a chance to be nominated for an Oscar
in the Original Song category. Sonu Nigam and Bickram Ghosh were also
part of the Original Score category's longlist, for their compositions
in "Jal", which also missed a possible nomination in the Best Picture
category.
India had already lost hope of a nomination in the
Foreign Language Film category as its official entry "Liar's Dice" had
failed to make a cut even to the longlist of nine out of the 83 films
that had qualified for the category.
In spite of India's no show
at the final nomination list this year, PVR Cinemas treated Hollywood
aficionados by hosting a week long PVR Oscar Film Festival Feb 6 in 23
Indian cities including Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.
India's tryst
with Oscars began in 1958 with Mehboob Khan's "Mother India" in which
late actress Nargis depicted the pain and agony of a mother with
conviction. It was the first Indian movie to get nominated in the Best
Foreign Language category.
After a long dry spell, costume
designer Bhanu Athaiya walked away with an Oscar in the Best Costume
Design category at the 55th Annual Academy Awards for Richard
Attenborough's film "Gandhi" in 1983.
Late legendary Indian
filmmaker Satyajit Ray, who gave iconic films like "Pather Panchali" and
"Aparajito", was also ennobled with honorary Oscar for his contribution
to cinema in 1992.
Late iconic actress Audrey Hepburn presented
the award to him and said: "the award recognises Mr Ray's rare mastery
of the art of motion pictures and of his profound humanism which has had
an indelible influence on filmmakers and audiences throughout the
world."
In an video message from Kolkata, a visibly frail Ray thanked and appreciated the American cinema.
British
filmmaker Danny Boyle's film "Slumdog Millionaire", tracing the rags to
riches story of a slum boy, sweeped eight Oscars at the 81st Academy
Awards including Best Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Sound Mixing,
Film Editing, Original Score, Original Song, Direction and Motion
Picture. Indian music maestro Rahman brought home two awards for "Jai
ho" composition in the same year.
Veteran
writer-lyricist-filmmaker Gulzar and sound engineer Resul Pookutty were
also one of the winners for the movie and made India proud in 2009.
Another
movie "Smile Pinki" with an Indian theme grabbed the award under Best
Documentary Short Subject category that year. American filmmaker Megan
Mylan's short documentary narrates a tale of a poor village girl called
Pinki whose cleft lip made her a social outcast, till her life changed
after a meeting with a social worker,
In 2013, Ang Lee`s "Life
of Pi", a fantasy adventure drama widely shot in India, bagged the 85th
Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best
Direction and Best Original Score.
The film narrated journey of
an Indian boy who survives a storm with stars like Irrfan Khan, Tabu and
Suraj Sharma coming together to bring story of the family alive on the
silver screen.
While receiving the award, Lee thanked his Indian crew and wowed everyone by saying 'Namaste'.
Another
India link at the 85th Academy Award was "Lincoln", a historical drama
about the last few months of 16th US President Abraham Lincoln, which
was co-produced by Indian business tycoon Anil Ambani's Reliance
Entertainment and DreamWorks.
Other Indian films like "Water" and "Lagaan" were also nominated for Oscars, but failed to take trophy home.
Bollywood's
glitz and glamour was also not left behind the red carpet of the
prestigious award ceremony with stars like Aishwarya Rai, Anil Kapoor,
Aamir Khan, and John Abraham oozing out style and sophistication at the
red carpet.
Well, Bollywood's "masala" entertainers like "Happy
New Year" and "RÂ… Rajkumar" have also found a place in the Oscar's
library.
Back to Oscar 2015, the ceremony will be live at 7
p.m., ET (Eastern Time)/4 p.m., PT(Pacific Time) in the US on ABC while
Indian audience can see the Oscars live on Star Movies at 5.30 a.m, with
a repeat at 8.30 p.m. on Feb 23.