Villagers in UP celebrate after 'Smile Pinky' bagged Oscars

Dabai (UP), Feb 23 (ANI): Villagers of Dabai in Uttar Pradesh erupted into celebration as the documentary 'Smile Pinky', which is based on the life of a girl from their village, bagged an Oscar for best short documentary film on Monday.

Nirmala Devi, mother of the film's protagonist Pinky Sonkar, was proud that her daughter who was always teased because of cuts on her lips, managed to create ripples in the hearts of the jury at the 81st Academy Awards.

"My daughter was always teased and insulted as 'lip cut'. But after her win in America, she has made the whole society and the village proud of her," said Nirmala Devi.

Hundreds of villagers came out of their homes to celebrate and raised slogans in praise of the little girl.

"We are singing and dancing to celebrate this victory. The whole village is celebrating. Pinky, whom we always used to tease because of her cleft lip, today the whole country is calling her name with pride," said Pradeep Kumar Vishwakarma, a villager.

'Smile Pinky' is the story of a child with a lip deformity and it is one of the four films nominated for best short documentary at the famed Academywards.

Megan Mylan's film 'Smile Pinky' depicts the saga of six-year-old Pinky who becomes a social outcast because of a cleft lip.

The 39-minute documentary traces Pinki's journey from being ostracized to being treated like a normal girl after a social worker helped her undergo surgery. (ANI)