It’s that Oscar thing again

I am always amused at the indignation in our media when an Indian film does not make it to the Oscars. It’s unfortunate that both the public and media remain ill informed. Let’s set the record straight — the Indian film industry sells its films to other Indians who by geographic circumstance happen to live in foreign countries. Truth is that there are very few takers outside the Indian diaspora for our films, but the industry insists on calling it the ‘overseas market’ or ‘international audience’ and the media does nothing to correct that mis-impression.

Truth be told, despite being perhaps the oldest film industry in the world, one that produces the largest number of films and has the advantage of so many regional cinemas, India contributes little to the evolution of world cinema today.

This, while countries like Iran, China, Mexico, even Korea and Thailand produce artistically integrated, cutting-edge films that transcend cultural and language barriers and earn export dollars from global audiences. Often gross earnings of these so-called ‘art’ films are twenty times that of the most commercial Bollywood picture. Monsoon Wedding was dubbed an art-film by our industry, but it grossed more than the biggest Yash Raj film of its year.

Our film industry, perhaps the only one in the world that could challenge the hegemony of Hollywood, does not even come up to one per cent of the total revenue of the world film industry.

Aren’t we firing way below our potential — both commercially and artistically? And why?

The simple answer is a lack of vision to bring the right stories to the money that will make them into films that can be watched by international audiences. The complicated answer is a combination of a feudal, coterie driven, inward looking industry and government apathy not inclined to bridge what is a cinematic revolution around the world with the talent that can be nurtured in a country of a billion people. New talent in India is absorbed in the uninspiring mediocrity that monopoly creates. It develops a narrow frame of reference which makes them useless for anything but Bollywood. It kills the striving for excellence. And aided by our inane media, it manages to convince people that the world is awed by our cinematic genius.

There are few mind-expanding spaces in our country like art-house theatres and film festivals. There is an absence of role models for filmmakers like myself who prefer to look to Abbas Kiarostami or Zhang Yimou or Alejandro González Iñárritu for inspiration.

If we want to get to the Oscars we need to get the basics right. Respect the writer and director, spend time developing a screenplay, attach a proper budget and a cast that can act; most importantly have the courage of conviction that it’s a story worth telling.

We need a vibrant, irreverent filmmaking community that is encouraged to experiment, that pushes the envelope and develops a unique voice. There is no dearth of money or talent in this country today. We have the opportunity to use the most influential mass communication medium of our times to tell our stories to the world.

The producer who puts sensible film development practices into place will be the one most likely to stand on that red carpet one day. Getting an Oscar nod may be a matter of chance. Building an industry that produces quality cinema that the world will watch is not.

The writer is a filmmaker whose short film ‘Little Terrorist’ was nominated for the Oscars in 2005