Oppurtunity Lost ?

When it comes to nominating creative work and people, more often than not, we falter.

Academy Awards open doors for International film makers to showcase their work. A window of oppurtunity for the int'l sector to peek into other's diversity and sensibilities. Indians have chipped in with nominations ranging from mindless to decent in the recent past. Incompetent creations. While few were appreciable, most lacked any creative edge to out do others entries.

Black(2005) surprisingly didn't appeal to FFI. Rather a mindless subject like Paheli sneaked in. I was mighty confident in AB, Rani or S.L.Bhansali giving others a serious run for money. Atleast in one department. An oppurtunity lost !

This year has seen some out standing products. Good call ! Chak De is inspiring but unfit for Academies. Technically not impressive. Will laud its inspiring concept and performances.

Eklavya is beautiful, and has well conceived scenes. Art work and AB stand out. So does cinematography. But Chopra fails to cash in on his brigade of talented actors. They do a commendable job and an overall okaish product, slow narration and a sagging script dent its competence at top level, I felt. Lets hope it draws appreciation for AB atleast.

Haven't watched Dharam. Let's count on the talented Pankaj Kapoor.

Gandhi My Father which banks on stellar performances is my natural choice. Akshaye's act takes him several notches above his peers. Shefali is breath taking. Darshan Jariwala as Gandhi fails to pull off a Ben Kingsley, yet impresses. The Gandhi factor would have been enough for people to sit upright and take note of this masterpiece. This period film appeals aesthetically too, set up in pre-independence back drop, and fitting in its genre, it could have been a decent contender.

Another opportunity lost ? Well, no expectations. But why not put our best foot forward ?