Rang De Basanti, India's official entry to Oscars

Mumbai, Sep 25: Aamir Khan starrer ''Rang De Basanti'' has been chosen as India's official entry into the foreign film category for the Oscar awards.

The decision was taken at the meeting of the Film Federation of India jury headed by noted filmmaker Basu Chaterjee.

Talking to UNI, Mr Chaterjee said,''Rang De Basanti was the best among the entries received this year. It was cinematic, very contemporary and good in every department of filmmaking''.

There were eight films in the running this year -- seven were Hindi and one was Marathi called ''Bhook'' (Hunger).

Rang De Basanti, released in January this year was leading the race with the recently released ''Lage Raho Munnabhai''.

The other prominent films in the race were ''Corporate'', ''Omkara'' and ''Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna (KANK)''.

This is Aamir's second tryst with Oscars -- the first being in 2001 when his home production ''Lagaan'' was nominated as one of the five films in the foreign film category and lost the coveted trophy to ''No Man's Land''.

Rang De Basanti is a film which focuses on the role of youth in shaping the country's destiny. Apart from Aamir, Tamil actors Siddharth and Madhavan, Kunal Kapoor, Sharman Joshi, Soha Ali Khan among others were a part of the star cast. It shows the story of corruption in defence deals and the frequent crashes of IAF fighter planes. It tells the story of a IAF fighter pilot who dies in MIG crash and the government apathy that follows his death.

Inspired from the real life story of late Abhijit Gadgil, a fighter pilot who lost his life in such a crash and the film fight of the pilot's mother to clear his name.

There were 12 jury members which decided on films ''Rang de Basanti'', ''Omkara'', ''Corporate'', ''Krrish'', ''Lage Raho Munnabhai'', ''Fanaa'', ''Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna'' and Marathi movie ''Bhook'' (Hunger).

Filmmaker Kalpana Lajmi, music composer Aadesh Srivastav, Director N Chandra and Ved Rahi were prominent among the jury members.

Rang De Basanti was the first big hit of this year and has earned Rs 125 crores till date (Rs 75 Crores in Domestic market + Rs 25 Crores overseas + Rs 25 cr as auxiliary incomes). It has the highest DVD sales of 72000 till date, and DVD and VCD combine sales is Rs 300,000 Lakh so far. It is the mainstream US release between December 2006 and February 2007 through 20th Century Fox, which is first for any Indian film.

Producer Ronnie Screwvala, CEO of UTV motion pictures expressed happiness that Aamir Khan's second film has made it to the Oscars after Lagaan and earned praise from the jury for the strong performances from the ensemble cast who were convincing as disillusioned youngsters learning the importance of personal sacrifice.

Ronnie Screwvala said Rang De Basanti has made a place for itself in the hearts and minds of millions of people all around the world. ''Such movies come along only once in a generation and we shall make every effort to ensure it is seen by as wide an audience as possible internationally too. To enable this, we are already planning a mainline release in the United States in association with two major studios. Following the rousing reception the film received at the Golden Globes jury screening, we are confident it stands a strong chance with the Academy,'' he added.

Over the past few months, the film's effect has been cast on the people which can be seen from the infamous Jessica Lal verdict to the Narmada anti-dam campaign to the latest protest marches against the proposed quota for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in institutes of higher learning. Protests forms in India have undergone a sea change from the usual hunger-strike, mob-violence routine. '' What makes these protests stand out is perhaps a sense of 'feeling for the cause' that transcends age and gender barriers and 'motivates' people to lend their support. Quiet candlelight vigils, rousing protest marches, enthusiastic sloganeering, passionate sound bytes and SMS campaigns'', he added.

UNI