Be(rang) Basanti...Ya...Be(rang) Oscar

It has turned out to be yet another dissappointment for Indian cinema with one of the most talked about movies in recent times "Rang De Basanti" knocked out of the race even before creating any impact. Even surprising coz the movie created quite a revolution back here. Before delving into what went wrong, lets look at some numbers-

- The Indian film industry makes 3 times as many films a year as Hollywood.

- India turns out about 1,000 films in 12 languages each year with a target audience of more than 10 million "households".

- Rs 93 Bn- Gross revenue expected in 2007 (* KPMG report) 

The "bollywood" mania is said to have captured the US market; many credit Lagaan and Aamir Khan's aggressive promotion @ the 2001 Oscar's as the harbinger to "Brand Bollywood" being recognized as a potent force in world cinema. Producers are increasingly attracted to the small but rapidly increasing $100mn bottomline augmentation. George Clooney recently admitted that he loves watching Bollywood cinemas and would love to work in one some day. (Confirm this HERE )

I guess one thing is clear...people around the world do know Bollywood and gaps in promotion for this part of world cinema was not a problem. Then what on earth could have gone wrong with Rang De Basanti? Its "hard to believe" that a movie which was one of the top grossers for 2006, critically (super) acclaimed and a movie which inspired the youth of a 1.2 billion nation to fight against injustice was not even nominated to the "Final 5"....appalling!! There is no second opinion that the movie is an articulate creation of an analogy which had the young awakened and stirred with the picture of a nation they live in. But somewhere in this Oscar fever what one forgets that this very movie was not awarded "best picture" award on its own soil. Yes, the recently concluded "Star Screen Awards"  ensured that we would show Oscar's the way to reject movies like Rang De Basanti which we send as "nominations"...ridiculous. Debating what Rang De lost to in its home soil may actually prove futile, coz "Rang De Basanti" was pitched against the same competitors when it was being sent as an Indian nomination to to the Oscar's. And Star (like many) is not a localized channel; its media proliferation is reason enough to believe that associated networks would have carried "Star Screen" award results back to Uncle Sam's country. So is it a fault in our eveluation system which actually prevents the best from actually proving they are the best? The reason why an Oscar is so sought after is defined by many in 2 lines-

1) Only the best can get it....I mean the best in quality...not grossers..

2) Its not how popular u are...its actually how popular is what u did on screen... 

If Indian cinema actually analyses any film award that is really sought after and is difficult to get.....the only hope that seems tangible is the National Awards (though not with flawless reputation...but still very revered). Maybe that is what Indian Cinema needs to focus on....With every other award function opting for the cliched "public opinion" to choose their choice, or a team of "so called" celebrities and then shocking half the population with their results, the real need of the hour is an "acid test" award ceremony....where winning means an achievement and not an aberration. If Bollywood is ready to conquer world cinema and expects world cinema respect the quality it churns, the only way to "rang de" our nominations at the oscar may lie in awarding equal credit to the nomination on an equally stringent turf....think over it...maybe "Rang de" was made "berang" much before it could have left its colour @ Oscar 2007.

Lets hope @ BAFTA...Rang de is coloured with the colours of Triumph...after all there is a British connection to bank upon