‘Paheli’ India’s entry for Oscars

[inline:1]Mumbai–Hindi feature film ‘Paheli’ starring Shahrukh Khan and Rani Mukherjee and directed by Amol Palekar has been selected as India’s entry in the foreign films category at the Oscars.

Secretary of Film Federation of India Supran Sena said that a 10-member jury, headed by noted filmmaker Vinod Pandey, made the selection after week-long deliberations.

Palekar said in Pune that he was happy at the nomination of the film for the Oscars.

The film is produced by Shahrukh, the lead actor in the film. Asked if he would go for lobbying which plays an important role in mobilizing opinion in favour of a film at the Oscars, the director “it is not the lobbying but the subject matter of the film which is important.”

“Paheli” beat 14 other films including ‘Swades’, ‘Veer-Zara’, ‘Black’, ‘Parineeta’, ‘Page 3’, ‘Iqbal’, ‘Mangal Pandey’ and Marathi film ‘Uttarayan’ for the nomination, Sena said.

‘Paheli’, which, according to Palekar deals with a `woman’s right to make a choice’, is a love story set in the picturesque locales of Rajasthan.

“Paheli” is based on the novel by leading Rajasthani writer Vijaydan Detha and the same book was reproduced on the celluloid by Mani Kaul several years back.

Palekar said when he narrated the script of “Paheli” to Shah Rukh, he liked it so much that he offered to produce it.

He said Shahrukh is an “able producer” and “everything depends on him how he handles things in the run up to the Oscars.

The director said he and Shahrukh would sit together and frame the strategy.

Ashutosh Gowariker’s “Lagaan” starring Aamir Khan and Marathi film “Shwwas” were nominated for Oscars in the last few years but missed the eventual glory.

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