Mumbai, February 13
For the stunned “Lagaan” makers, a top five nomination in the Oscar Best Foreign Film category has sure been an uphill task!
Aamir Khan poses with a copy of film-based comic of his Hindi film “Lagaan” in Mumbai.
— Reuters photo
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But, they say, as the only “multiple-genre work” in the race, the best news about “Lagaan” is yet to come.
Producer Aamir Khan told IANS: “It’s quite incredible. We had nothing to sell except our film. A lot of people believed we’d never pull it off. But we’ve done it.”
“Just getting the jury to pay attention to our film has been an uphill task,” quipped director Ashutosh Gowariker.
He and Aamir held four screenings of “Lagaan” in Los Angeles to promote the film as a possible Oscar contender. During the first second and third screenings, only a handful of people showed up. “But in our fourth screening we managed to get 200 people into the theatre, and that too on a Sunday,” Gowariker said.
“There were all kinds of Indians all over the world going to places of worship to pray that ‘Lagaan’ gets nominated for an Oscar. We earlier said the film was about the triumph of the human spirit. Now I feel it’s about the triumph of the Indian spirit.”
“I feel it is a complete Indian mainstream fantasy about the triumph of the will. There’s a universal quality underlining the game of cricket between the haves and have-nots which I think will go in our favour when the final winner is announced,” said Gowariker.
“Amelie,” “Elling,” “Son Of The Bride” and “No Man’s Land” are the other nominations, but director is hopeful of taking home the coveted trophy.
“Though all the other four nominees are very fine films, ours is the only multiple-genre work. ‘Lagaan’ is a period film, a sports event, a musical and a drama all rolled into one. That, I think, is the film’s biggest plus point at the Oscars,” he said.
It is the third Indian film after Mehboob Khan’s “Mother India” in 1957 and Mira Nair’s “Salaam Bombay” in 1989 to get nominated in the Best Foreign Film category.
But Gowariker believes that “Salaam Bombay” was not an Indian film per se. “Not in the way ‘Mother India’ and ‘Lagaan’ are”, he said.
IANS
