FWICE expresses concern over Oscar selection by FFI Jury

Members of the Federation of Western India Cine Employees expressed their concern over the selection of India’s entry for Oscars 2023. Ashoke Pandit, BN Tiwari, Ashok Dubey and Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan a joint statement said, “We at FWICE have observed that this year’s nomination of the film Chhello Show as India’s Official Entry to the 95th Oscar Award is not as per the usual norms and has therefore created doubts and issues, which we thought of raising. We strongly feel that the selection process was not thoroughly followed.” The statement further read, “The official selection of an Indian film means produced by Indian companies. This year’s selection of Chhello Show seems questionable. This film is primarily produced by foreign studios and most of the crew is also from foreign countries. Its major producers, Orange Studios, are of foreign origin. This film has been on their site for few years. It’s only recently some Indian companies made a deal for this film for its Indian release. Does that qualify it to be an Indian film? The film premiered in June 2021. How does it qualify for 2022 films?” —TMS