Indian Cinema was one of the hot topics on the world stage in 2022. Mostly due to the noise made by SS Rajamouli’s RRR, several other Indian productions got mentioned across the world for their richness in content and entertainment. The hype was rewarded with two Oscars for Indian movies, an unprecedented feat in the history of the Awards.
Maverick Music composer, AR Rahman, who won an Oscar himself for Slumdog Millionaire in one of his recent interviews stated that India has been sending the wrong movies to the Oscars.
AR Rahman won the oscars in 2009. Credits – Deccan Chronicle
In the interview, Rahman stated that we have been sending movies every year but none of them have been awarded yet. As a solution to this problem, Rahman said that we need to look at things from a different perspective, mostly like a westerner to see what kind of content we are churning out.
The interview, which was shot in January, is resurfacing in the wake of criticism received for the choice of movies sent to the Oscars by the Indian committee. While many people thought that India had one of its best shots for the Award with the RRR, the Oscar committee, seemed completely oblivious to the trend around and shortlisted a Gujarati movie instead.
Chello Show was India’s official entry for the Oscars in 2023
While RRR did apply in the best picture category, the chance of it winning there was always going to be far less. However, if RRR was to be shortlisted as an Official Indian entry for the Awards, the film, in all probability, could have gotten one more Oscar to its name.
This is not the first time that a movie that was the crowd’s favorite across the world was not catered to by the Indian Oscar Committee. In 2014, ‘The Good Road’ was selected by the committee for the Oscars, ignoring the movie which created a great deal of noise on the international forum then, The Lunchbox.
Lunchbox is one of the most loved Indian movie from the last decade.
Last year, Shoojit Sircar’s Sardar Udham was ignored by the committee for its perceived anti-British portrayal. The reported reasoning behind the snub invited strong criticism of the choice and the committee.
