pehli is not the movie for nomination.it doest express any love story or comedy..the best movie is parineeta which is a movie ,which shows a love story as well as the serious expressions of saif and sanjay..
If sending "Black" was such a problem, Parineeta should have been sent. It certainly represents the Bengali culture pretty well. And the actors did an amazing job.
Paheli put me to sleep right in the beginning...and I ended up not watching it.
As an American fan of Hindi and Tamil films, I feel Swades would have gotten very serious consideration from the Oscars jury if it had been nominated as India's 2005 choice.
Swades shows modern India and older Indian ways, has a great score, super photography, SRK (in great shape with some of his best acting), is politically relevant worldwide, and has great direction, cast and acting. It is both serious, and light, sweet and comedic. The Oscar juries love this kind of richness.
The relative simplicity of costuming, sets, etc., would be a plus with the Oscar jury, who are immune to fancy movies unless there's substance, too. They want movies with heart, validity, great technical production, relevance to the country that produced the film, great direction and great acting. Swades has all these, and SRK, Gowariker, and Rahman, too.
(The only weak part of this movie is how much money SRK's character seems to be making in America. Even the best engineers and scientists don't make enough to drive that car or have the big high-rise apartment with the incredible view of Washington DC, that Mohan has. You'd need to be a lawyer, real estate person, entrepreneur, etc.
Lets assume for a moment that Black is the greatest movie ever and a phenomenon in itself. Also lets assume that it is sent to Oscars instead of Paheli. Lets assume that oscar committee watches the movie and finds it the best movie ever made anywhere in the whole wide world. Now picture this conversation;
Member 1: Wow! This is the best updated version of the miracle version I have ever seen. The director has not only adapted the play but added his own to it to make it even better than the original play. We should not watch any other movie now and give this movie an academy award. Member 2: You know what? The story is credited to Bhansali and nowhere is it mentioned that it is based on the miracle worker. Member 3: Good lord!!! They made and released the movie without crediting it to the original author? Can they do this? Member 1: Lets inform Arthur Penn so that he can sue these guys for copyrights violation. India must be a nation of blatant thieves.
I don't know about you guys but oscar or no oscar, I don't need this insult.
Someone says even Paheli is a copy of Duvidha etc. but it gives the credit to the original author.
Kudos to our eminent juries for nominating such a mediocre film as indian representation for the oscars. Trust them for taking such a decision....when there were at least three more films which were better made!! Clearly money speaks...the nomination seems to be bought out. Just one message for the King Khan....if this is the way you plan to conquer the world.....your days are numbered.
I personally feel that paheli is the best choice for oscar from india. Black is a masterpiece of Sanjay. I liked this movie very much and thought that finally india has a movie which can go for oscars.
Paheli on the other had is also a well made movie but very different from Black. Black is a movie made more on the lines of Hollywood style, it does not represent anything from india. It is a great film in hollywood style with indian actors, who performed to thier best. Paheli is a indian fantasy film. The ghost in the movie is beautiful, the puppets are beautiful and they have life. When i watched this movie, i felt that i am actually part of that movie. The way the story was told was excellent.
The oscar academy (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) has 5,816 voting members. I feel that it is a good choice to throw a Paheli kinda indianised movie to these people, rather than the hollywood style BLACK.
I am a big fan of Sanjay Leela Bansali but still i think that Paheli is the best choice for oscars from INDIA.