'Newton' out of the Oscar race...

'Newton', unanimously selected by the Film Federation of India (FFI) jury to represent the country at the 90th edition of the Academy Awards to be held in Los Angeles on March 4, 2018, is out of the race in the Best Foreign Language film category. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that the satire hasn’t progressed to the top nine-film line-up despite winning accolades back home.'A Fantastic Woman' (Chile), 'In The Fade' (Germany), 'On Body And Soul' (Hungary), 'Foxtrot' (Israel), 'The Insult' (Lebanon), 'Loveless' (Russia), 'Felicite' (Senegal), 'The Wound' (South Africa) and 'The Square' (Sweden) have made the cut and will proceed to the next round of voting.
Since 1957 (when India sent its first entry), only three Indian entries have made it to the top five nominations at the coveted Oscar Awards — Mother India (1957), Salaam Bombay (1988) and Lagaan (2001). Newton is the 47th entry that hasn’t made it to top slot. Amit V Masurkar, who directed the Rajkummar Rao-starrer, says, “The competition is very tough, it’s the equivalent of Olympics for cinema. Most of the films in the competition have done fabulously well in the international domain. Even 'Newton' received positive reactions at every screening. So, it doesn’t feel bad that we couldn’t make it. I’m glad we were chosen to represent India on such a massive platform.”
Filmmaker CV Reddy, who headlined the committee that selected Newton, says, “We’re still very proud of the choice we made. The rest is a film’s own destiny.” Supran Sen of the FFI, adds, “We thought that this was the best film on the table. Promoting it in the US is a producer’s prerogative and responsibility. We can’t help it if our entry is not chosen in the top five.”
Filmmaker Ketan Mehta, who has previously been on the FFI panel that selects India’s entry to the Oscars, believes that Indian cinema is yet to start communicating with the world. “There’s exciting cinema all over the world — American and European films talk beyond the borders. Their majority market is outside their borders, which is not the case for India. We are still hugely dependent on our domestic market, which is less than two per cent of the world market. Fortunately, even in that space, our market is robust for so many films to be made, but we are still shying away from being adventurous and global with our content. Also, we need exceptionally deep pockets to market the film in the US before the Oscars,” adds Ketan.
However, Amit V Masurkar disagrees on the importance of lobbying. “It’s not about lobbying at that stage; it’s largely about the content. The competing films are hugely followed by reputed festivals the world over, something that might be making a difference. We were good, but maybe, someone was better.”
Actor-filmmaker Anupam Kher, who has straddled Hollywood and Bollywood films and is currently the head of FTII, Pune, questions India’s obsession with the Oscar. He adds, “Oscars are their awards, and they follow their own process of screening and voting. We haven’t seen the other contenders in the category. How do we know someone wasn’t better than us? We feel heartbroken each year, but don’t make adequate effort to introspect and learn. 'Newton' is a brilliant film, but maybe, we need to up the game. Oscar has been a long chase but maybe, we’ll get there, soon.”
Over the last decade, 'Visaranai', 'Court', 'Liar’s Dice', 'Barfi!', 'Adaminte Makan Abu', 'Peepli Live', 'Harishchandrachi Factory', 'Taare Zameen Par', 'Eklavya: The Royal Guard' and 'Rang De Basanti', were sent as India’s entries to the Oscar. While some of them reportedly couldn’t garner the right response, it was argued that 'Barfi!' was similar in essence to Charlie Chaplin films. 'Newton' had also faced a similar situation shortly after its selection from India was announced. There were discussions on social media platforms insinuating that the concept of the film was borrowed from the Iranian film, 'The Secret Ballot'.
Recently, during a chat with Naseeruddin Shah he spoke about the controversy around the movie and expressed his concern, “For the first time, we unanimously chose one entry for the Oscar, but even then, someone tried to damage its chances by saying that it’s a copy of some Iranian film. Need I say more?” The actor believes that India’s desire to win the Oscar stems from the urge to be seen and heard on a worldwide platform. However, he had argued that Hindi movies have a larger audience globally than Hollywood movies. He had added, “I have seen the so-called big hits in the US run to empty theatres in their very first week. While we outnumber them in terms audience strength, we have a massive fascination for the Oscar. We desperately want to be photographed by the world, holding the trophy. We might get something in costume design or maybe cinematography; chances for those are also bleak. We won an Oscar for 'Gandhi' (Bhanu Athaiya for costume), but the campaign began before the film was shot and it was run by a Hollywood studio. Their studios recognise Oscar material and promote it while it’s being made, we don’t.”