But, unfortunately, it wasn’t devoid of all the
Bollywood’s glitz and glamour. It had hummable songs
and a clearly etched out relationship thread between a
teacher and a dyslexic boy that was solely an insertion
to evoke the so called sentiments of the viewers. It was
anything but subtle and in your face, and hence not close
to real life. After all, Aamir is a businessman who has
apparently only looked at the script from the scope-at-the-box-office
perspective.
So
our hearts went out for the characters of the movie.
We cried and sympathized for Ishaan and his parents
and felt fondly for the teacher Nikumbh – but
then did we not do the same thing for Dilwale Dulhaniya
Le Jayenge and Dil to Paagal Hai - the crying? So where
is the difference? Oh yeah, there is no song and dance
routine and the most inevitable heroine – but
is that innovation at all? May be for Bollywood.
Attaining
commercial success should not shun a movie from appearing
for Oscars, I agree. But isn’t Oscar given away
for movies that are considered fine, with a message
that often trades commercial viability for the need
to sound real?
TZP
is a bitter pill, necessarily intended to be good medicine,
but heavily sugar coated and hence, I doubt, not suitable
for consumption by the Oscars. It’s more Bollywood
than world cinema.
So
what does it leave TZP with? All the awards that Indian
government and all the other film-based organizations
in India could possibly give away. Because it’s
a good cinema by Indian standards - not necessarily
by world standards. And world cinema has most certainly
seen better movies that focused on the same issue.
On
the other hand, there is a gem purposely and conveniently
avoided by the bureaucrats during the selection process.
The Marathi movie Tingya, which is set in a Maharshtrian
village and narrates the life of a rural boy and his
love and friendship for his bull. It’s hard-hitting
and real and had already been shown in enough and more
film festivals all over the world. Besides, it has also
won numerous awards in those film festivals.
Tingya
also touches upon on the burning issues of rural Maharashtra
– they are issues of rural India, precisely –
like farmer suicide, unemployment, and lack of proper
education. Only that you or I do not know Tingya existed
until the producer decided to send it as an Independent
entrant to the Oscars in the foreign language category
– for which TZP is making an entry officially
with the red carpet honors.
Somehow
doesn’t Tingya feel like a better bet than the
tale of a friendship between a super rich dyslexic kid
and his boarding school art teacher?
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