Newton has been named as India’s official entry for the 90th Academy Awards, and there is a collective buzz about India's tryst with the world's most famous film awards. Will Newton finally bag the elusive prize of best Foreign Language Films at the world’s most prestigious film awards? Corporate Citizen analyses its chances
It’s that time of the year again when India’s official nominee for the Oscars is announced, and the whole country is excited about India’s chances at the Oscars. Every year there is hope that India will finally manage to bag the most coveted award for a foreign language film in the world. But what does it take to crack the Oscar code?
The fact of the matter remains that simply picking up a film that best represents the cinema of the country, which is how the Academy views official submissions, is not enough. For example, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Paheli were India’s entries to the Oscars in the past, but they certainly weren’t critically acclaimed even in India. Cultural representation doesn't make any difference to the approach the average Academy member would have towards the film. After a country sends its official entry, the film with English subtitles is screened for the Foreign Language Film Award Committee whose members select the five final nominations by a secret ballot. Needless to say, this is where preferences and/or prejudices come into play. A member need not see each and every film to make a considered choice and if the film has generated enough buzz via advertisements, previously being released or winning accolades on various film festivals is perhaps enough to convince one way or the other.
But is something else the real factor when it comes to ‘cracking’ the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film? Take a look at the two countries that have won the most number of awards in this category and you would notice how these are the very cinemas that have had the biggest impact on Hollywood in terms of influence. Pick up any filmmaker in the last 50 years from the US and chances of them citing the Italian and French New Wave cinema as their learning ground would be really high; hardly surprising then that Italy and France have won the highest number of Oscars in this category. There is nothing wrong in Italian or French films dominating the category. But what it says about the way things operate at the Oscars is that films from the countries that a majority of the voting members like are the ones that don't really have to try hard to make an impression. Amongst India and Hong Kong, the two cinemas that according to legendary Hollywood filmmaker Quentin Tarantino have not only survived Hollywood but also managed to create a special place for themselves, neither has ever won an Oscar for the Best Foreign Language Film. Yet Hong Kong Cinema, in particular, has had a tremendous influence on Hollywood, can can be seen in movies like The Matrix and John Wick.
Does Newton have a real chance of winning at the Oscars? Newton received a warm response at its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. It also won the CICAE Award for best film in the Forum Section. It has also won Best Film at the Hong Kong International Film Festival. Rajkumar Rao is now seeking help from Aamir Khan, whose promotional efforts for Lagaan had made India closer to winning the Oscars
Indian films have been nominated on four occassions—Mother India, Salaam Bombay, Lagaan, and Water—but have never won. Mehboob’s Mother India (1957) lost to Federico Fellini's Nights In Cabiria by one vote while Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay (1988) was beaten by Pelle the Conqueror, Ashutosh Gowarikar's Lagaan (2001) went up against Amèlie and No Man's Land before losing to the latter and Deepa Mehta’s Water (2006) lost to Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s brilliant German film Das Leben der Anderen or The Lives of Others. Technically, Mehta’s film was in Hindi but it was a Canadian submission and not Indian. A few years ago, Ritesh Batra’s Lunchbox (2013) would have had a strong chance of making it to the final five based on the success it had enjoyed on the festival circuit. There was enough buzz about the film and while it might not have won the award it definitely stood a better chance of making the cut as opposed to The Good Road, the film that was India's official entry.
Another issue that is relevant in this context is originality. In 2014, India’s official nominee was Barfi, which was copied from several Hollywood movies. Incidents like this damage India’s reputation at the Oscars and subsequent films have to pay the price. Newton too faced allegations of being similar to Iranian film Secret Ballot. However, the director Babak Payami has stated in an online interview "I saw the film and there is no sign of plagiarism. These are completely different films.”
Does Newton have a real chance of winning at the Oscars? Newton received a warm response at its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. It also won the CICAE Award for best film in the Forum Section. It has also won Best Film at the Hong Kong International Film Festival. Rajkumar Rao is now seeking help from Aamir Khan, whose promotional efforts for Lagaan had made India closer to winning the Oscars. Only time will tell what will happen, but with Newton, India has much to be optimistic about at this year’s Academy Awards.
By Neeraj Varty
