Deepa Mehta's 'Water' nominated for Oscars

New Delhi, Jan 23 (UNI) Five years after Ashutosh Gowarikar's 'Lagaan' brought India on the cinematic map of the world by bagging a nomination at the Oscars, another Indian filmmaker Deepa Mehta's John Abraham Lisa Ray-starrer 'Water' today brought India back on the Oscars radar By securing a nomination at the prestigious awards.

Deepa Mehta's film about the plight of hindu widows in India today bagged a nomination at the Oscars in the 'Best foreign Language Film' category.

'Water' figured in the list of nominees, announced by the Oscars Academy this evening, along with 'Days Of Glory', 'After The Wedding', 'The Lives of Others' and 'Pan's Labyrinth'.

Though 'Water' has been nominated in the category as an entry from Canada, an Oscars nomination for the film is another 'Feather in the cap' for Indian cinema, which has, in its over six decade history, only secured three nominations at the Oscars.

In this sense, 'Water' is the fourth film by an Indian filmmaker to get a nomination at the prestigious awards, after Mehboob Khan's 'Mother India' (in the 50s), Mira Nair's 'Salaam Bombay' (1988) and Ashutosh Gowarikar's 'Lagaan' ( 2001).

The nomination of 'Water' for the Oscars comes close on the heels of Rakeysh Mehra's 'Rang De Basanti' failing to make it to the shortlist of nine films announced by the Academy last week, just ahead of announcement of the final five nominees.

Coming just five years after 'Lagaan' got a nomination in the category, the nomination for 'Water' does arouse a sense of hope that finally an Indian film could bag the coveted award.

Starring Bollywood hunk John Abraham and model-turned actor Lisa Ray in lead roles, 'Water' has previously received a lot of critical acclaim in International cinematic circles, having being screened at several International film festivals, including the Toronto film festival last year.

With 'Rang De Basanti' securing a BAFTA nomination in the Best Non English Film category and, now, an Oscar nomination for 'Water', it has been a pathbreaking year for Indian cinema with a host of 'New Age film getting critical acclaim and public response in equal measure and films like 'Lage Raho Munnabhai', 'Khosla Ka Ghosla', 'Dor' and 'Maine Gandhi ko Nahin Maara' making rounds of several International film festivals.

UNI