Oscar tragedy for Devdas

Devdas has made it to the BAFTA nomination list for the category of best film in a foreign language and Shah is certain that the film has better chances there. ‘‘It has a good chance because in Britain, more people are aware of our culture. And the BAFTAs are like the British Oscars,’’ he says.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali, director of the Rs 50-crore extravaganza that starred Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit, was incommunicado for most of the evening before the announcement — even to Shah himself. ‘‘I spoke to Shah Rukh and he also said that it was bad luck. Sanjay has not been answering his mobile phone since this morning — I think he’s too nervous,’’ Shah said.

Devdas, based on Sarat Chandra Chatterjee’s classic novel, was beset with problems during its making. Producer Bharat Shah was arrested, two technicians died in shoot accidents and Bhansali fell out with just about everyone during production. Despite it all, Devdas had a fairytale premiere at Cannes, a star-studded one at Mumbai and swept the Screen awards this year.