Beverly Hills, California, Jan 25: India`s official entry for Oscar nominations in the foreign-language film category, Marathi film `Shwaas`, could not make it to the list of the last five.
The films nominated in foreign-language category were Sweden`s `As It is in Heaven,` France`s `The Chorus`, Germany`s `Dawnfall`, Spain`s `The Sea Inside`, and South Africa`s `Yesterday`.
Shwaas, directed by Sandeep Sawant, could not make it to the list of nominees. It is a story of an old man from the countryside and his eight-year-old grandson, who is a victim of a rare retinal cancer.
Reacting to the film dropping out of the Oscar race, Sawant said, "After all it is a competition and once you
participate in it you must be ready to both win and lose".
"But I am happy and proud of the fact that a small
regional film, made in Marathi, was able to compete at the
national and international level, which I consider to be a
major achievement," he said.
On whether he felt disillusioned or dejected because the film had failed to be nominated despite the wide publicity, the lobbying and all the efforts taken to ensure that the film was noticed, Sawant said, "It is erroneous to assume that only Shwaas had lobbied and ensured publicity. In fact campaigning budgets of other films was much larger and on a wider scale. We cannot rule out the impact made by such wide publicity.”
To a query on why the film, which captures a poignant story of a boy`s suffering from eye cancer, failed to notch a nomination, he said, "At this stage it is very difficult to reach to any conclusion."
However, he disagreed that thousands of film lovers and those who promoted the film had been let down by the movie not making it to the Oscar.
"Irrespective of the fact whether the film made it or not, campaigning for the film was a pre-requisite that could not be ruled out.”
And would the temporary defeat steer him away from the track of winning an Oscar, "Never, I still will aim for the Oscar. There is always another chance", he said.
Bureau Report
