The Academy Awards recognizes various artists and talents in the realm of filmmaking from around the world. However, its choices of foreign movies represented can be perceived as stereotypical.
One foreign film is selected by a country every year and sent to the Oscars. The Oscar panelists then decide if the movie is worth being nominated.
India’s film industries pump out more than 1500 movies every year. While most of them go unnoticed by Western audiences, a few of them garner international acclaim with the assistance of subtitles.
India sent many films for the Academy Award for Best international Feature Film award throughout the last few decades, but only three movies were nominated. “Mother India” (1957), “Salaam Bombay!” (1988) and “Lagaan” (2001) were nominated but none of them won, with “Mother India” losing by a mere one vote.
The problems arise when looking at the plots of the three masterpieces.
“Mother India” follows an impoverished village woman trying to provide for her sons in the absence of her husband, “Salaam Bombay!” showcases the lives of children in the slums of Bombay and “Lagaan” takes place in a drought-stricken village under British imperial control.
Although it’s important to acknowledge the problems of a country, these nominations seem to focus only on that. None of the films showcase the rich and expansive cultures in India. Instead, they only depict the hardships and tribulations of Indians.
This paints a false image of India for people whose only perception of India and its culture comes from forms of media that are deemed accurate representations by Western judges and awards shows.
Actor and film enthusiast Charles Budan agrees that the Oscars should be accepting more foreign films. “I think the Oscars generally do a poor job recognizing films from beyond Western markets. Foreign films should receive equal consideration from the Academy rather than being sequestered all into one category. Every year there are plenty of excellent creative pictures from India and beyond that fly under the radar simply because the Academy ignores them. This further enforces Western normativity and deprives many viewers from a more mindful understanding of the world,” Budan shared.
Another avid film watcher Tejus Kanathur is an Indian and also noticed the trend of poverty in Indian films represented in Western awards. “I think the Oscars can be resistant to including foreign films in its main categories, instead being relegated to specifically foreign categories. And the Indian movies that do receive recognition, poverty is a common theme which reinforces the perception of India as a 3rd world and poor country, despite it being very prosperous economically,” Kanathur observed.
Since these kinds of films keep getting nominated, India keeps sending out more pity-inducing films. Not only is this bad for India’s image, but it also inhibits other worthy projects to be sent to nominations, as only one can be sent every year.
Recently, India sent “Chhello Show” (2022) to the nominations. The semi-autobiographical movie follows a little boy from a poor village as he aspires to be a filmmaker. Although an impeccable movie, it yet again follows the trend, focusing on the impoverished aspects of India rather than the multicultural aspects.
Director S.S. Rajamouli’s “RRR” hopes to break this trend. As one of India’s highest box office hits and most critically acclaimed film, “RRR” still failed to get an entry to the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Instead, it hopes to achieve a better milestone by getting nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.
“RRR” follows two revolutionary fighters against the imperialist British Crown. It showcases and embraces many Indian cultures and practices. With many of the previous nominations showing India in a negative light, if “RRR” were to get nominated, it will change the formula and shine a new international light on India.
“RRR” recently launched its Oscar campaign and hopes to be nominated for categories including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.
Budan watched and loved “RRR.” “I adore ‘RRR’; it’s incredibly gripping, and narratively satisfying. The action is what really steals the show, it’s delightfully choreographed and beautifully shot. ‘RRR’ absolutely deserves Oscar recognition. It is a strong contender for Best VFX and Best Original Song and, probably, Best Editing and Best Director,” Budan shared.
As films like “RRR” are working to change the status quo, there is still hope for Western media to recognize authentic representations of foreign culture.
Srujan Nuthula • Sep 11, 2023 at 2:39 pm
I’m glad RRR was nominated into the Academy Awards and I think this was definitely one of S.S. Rajamouli’s best movies along with Bahubali 1 and 2.