India’s Oscar bid not Taare-crossed this time?

Aamir Khan���s debut directorial venture, Taare Zameen Par, has been chosen to go, and it means that the actor is packing his bags for a visit to the Academy awards for the third time. Aamirseems to be on a roll ��� this is his third film to be selected to representIndia at the Oscars. The first was as producer and actor of, and it was also the last timethat the Indian entry made it to the nominations in the best foreign filmcategory. The second, , saw Aamir articulate his strategy to get the film into thenominations, and while it didn���t, it seems his modus operandi this timearound might be similar. It���s also a bit of an accomplishment, as hisBollywood colleagues say, that his first film as director has been chosen to goto the Academy awards. Aamir himself is shooting in Ladakh for RajuHirani���s Idiots, but has sent a statement about the selection. ���I amreally happy that TZP has been selected to represent India at an internationalforum like the Oscars. It is a film that is extremely close to my heart.It���s a film that first sensitised me as a parent and as a person and thenwent on to have same effect on audiences in India and across the globe. I hopethat it has an equally strong impact on the members of the Academy aswell,��� he says.For, this was the strategy thatAamir said he���d adopted to try and get the film a nomination ������It is very important to make your film popular among the jurymembers,��� he���d said about his first experience when RDB wasnominated. ���However, if you personally try and talk to them,they disqualify you. So you have to try and show your movie to most of them intheir preferred language.��� He���d made sure that was shown to the maximum numberof jury members. About 542 jury members had seen the movie and it was alsoscreened for public viewing in the US 10 times. He said he didn���t know theformula to win an Oscar, ���but I guess it depends on how well you marketyou product there,��� he���dadded.While the selection of TZP has been unchallenged,Aamir���s friends and the crew of the film are elated at the news. EvenAmitabh Bachchan, whose controversy-ridden, lastyear���s entry, was dragged to court, has said it���s good news.���Superb! I am really happy to hear this and I feel that this is the mostdeserving movie for the official Indian entry to the Oscars,��� he said inan SMS.���The movie was very fulfilling ��� it took anintense amount of hard work,��� says Tisca Chopra, who featured in TZP.���I was tremendously satisfied to work with Aamir. This is my first filmthat���s been selected to go to the Oscars, and right now, I just want thiswhole feeling to sink in.������He might be a first timedirector here, but he is a seasoned producer,��� says Rakeysh OmprakashMehra, who directed Aamir in RDB, which went to the Oscars in 2006. ���I amvery happy for him and his movie being the official Indian entry for the Oscarsthis year. This is the third time Aamir will be going to the Academy awards, andhe knows the tricks of the trade. He had worked really hard as a producer forLagaan. Then it was RDB���s turn and I took a lot of points from him for it,and now it���s TZP. He���s a pro at it now and I���m sure he will beable to pull it off thistime.���India���s entry last year,: The Royal Guard, was taken tocourt by filmmaker Bhavna Talwar. When was selected, Pahlaj Nihalani,president of Association of Motion Pictures and TV Programmes, wasn���t toohappy about it. ���It is disgraceful that the jury has selected a movie forthe Oscars which has been rejected by the people. I don���t see any logicbehind selecting this movie when there were other deserving movies like,��� he had said.Bhavna, whose Dharm was also in the running but had been trounced by, filed a petition in the BombayHigh Court, and the court said that the selection appeared to be ���primafacie biased���. It asked the Film Federation of India to respond within 10days to Talwar���s petition, which she said was a ���hugeencouragement���. Vidhu Vinod Chopra, the maker of, had said, ���Thehonourable High Court has not issued any restraining order/stay or injunction inthe matter... I will abide by the order.���Sudhir Mishra, whose was beaten byAmol Palekar���s to theOscars in 2005, had once said that he wasn���t contesting the selection, but���I think HKA was still a better film than all the films that went for theOscars that year.���2000: Hey Ram2001: Lagaan2002:Devdas2003: No submission2004: Shwaas2005: Paheli2006:Rang De Basanti2007: Eklavya: The Royal Guard