Late in the evening of February 11, when the Oscar nominees were announced, Sanjay Leela Bhansali was calm.
His Rs 500 million drama Devdas, starring Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit did not make the shortlist for Best Foreign Film. "I cannot deny I am disappointed. But nobody knows how the Oscar nominations happen. The whole process is kept under wraps.
"In an Internet poll, Devdas got 8 out of 10," he adds. "I am sure if a big studio had backed Devdas in Los Angeles, it would have stood a better chance. Everyone says I should have been there to lobby for the film. But we did not go to the UK to lobby for BAFTA."
"Of course, an Oscar nomination would have added considerably to the film's business abroad. But it has already made nearly Rs 150 crore. It has done stupendous business overseas. We did a business of Rs 80 crore when we took Devdas to Cannes. A lot of people disbelieve the profits Devdas has made."
"I just wish one of the big American studios had bought Devdas. They would have pitched the film for the Oscars in a big way, like Miramax did with the Chinese film Hero," says Bhansali.
Last year, Ashutosh Gowariker's Lagaan made it into the Oscar shortlist for foreign films. "It would have been wonderful to be nominated," Bhansali says, reflectively. "But I am very proud of the BAFTA nomination though neither means as much to me as a Filmfare Award. I am distressed when I see news channels saying Devdas has let down the country by not getting an Oscar nomination."
One theory doing the rounds why Devdas missed a nomination is that two Indian films in successive years would have been excessive. Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma disagrees, "I don't see why the Lagaan nomination should have been a deterrent. If we can have two Miss Worlds in two successive years, why not two Oscar nominations? No, I think Devdas missed the bus because there were better films in the race this time. We do not really know the calibre of the films that have been nominated, do we?"
Says Bhansali, "I don't think international cinema is ready to embrace mainstream Indian cinema unconditionally. Even Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding didn't get to the Oscars after being nominated for the Golden Globe Awards."