Lives of Others'

New Delhi, Feb 26 (UNI) India's hopes of bagging the elusive Oscar were again dashed today with Indian-born Deepa Mehta's 'Water', which was nominated by the Academy in the Best Foreign Language Film category from Canada, losing the race to 'The Lives of Others' of Germany.

'Water', which was a strong favourite for the Oscar, was eventually pipped to the award by 'The Lives of Others' at the awards ceremony for the 79th Academy Awards at Los Angeles this morning.

Dealing with life of widows in 1930s India, 'Water' was nominated by the Oscars Academy last month for the Best Foreign Film Category along with 'Pan's Labyrinth' (Mexico), 'After The Wedding' (Denmark), 'Days of Glory' and the German Cold War drama 'The Lives of Others'.

Based in the East Berlin of 1984, 'The Lives of Others' is the story of how when Captain Gerd Weisler begins monitoring the daily life of the playwright Georg Dreyman, as part of extensive surveillance operations by the secret police organisation, Stasi, against any East German citizen suspected of opposing the Communist regime, he finds himself increasingly unwilling to betray his subject's private moments to his superiors.

Alan Arkin, who played the cranky, heroin-snorting grandfather in the bittersweet family comedy "Little Miss Sunshine," won the Oscars for best supporting actor, while "Pan's Labyrinth," Guillermo Del Toro's magical-realist fantasy set in Fascist Spain, received Oscars for art direction and makeup. Present at the Oscars ceremony were the director of the film Deepa Mehta, its Canadian producer David Hamilton, the film's lead actor John Abraham and actor Seema Biswas.

The failure of 'Water' to get the Oscars comes in an year when 'Rang De Basanti', India's official entry to the Best Foreign Language film category failed to figure in the final five at the Oscars and then lost the race for the British Academy for film and Television awards to 'Pan Labyrinth.

It also comes after 'Water' had, in the run up to Oscars, emerged a strong favourite though filmmaker Deepa Mehta did acknowledge that the competition in the category was indeed tough, since 'Water' competing with some great international ventures like 'Pan's Labyrinth' and 'After the wedding'.

Talking to the media in the capital last week, Deepa Mehta had said for her it was enough that 'Water' won a nomination while being in competition with some of the great pieces of international cinema.

Notwithstanding the Oscars miss for the film, filmmaker Ravi Chopra, who is distributing 'Water' in India, feels 'Water' is a sweet and beautiful film, which has already won accolades and box office success galore in the US.

''Water is a sweet and beautiful film which has won accolades and box office success galore in the US. In this sense, it is a film that has made India proud in the West. That is why I decided to release it in India as I felt every Indian should see it,''Chopra said.

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