Click to play videoMumbai: Joining the list of some 50-odd foreign language films that have been entered from their respective countries, Taare Zameen Par will now be pitched to the 600-strong Foreign Language Film Committee of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences who will shortlist five of the best films for the Oscar award.
It's now up to producer Aamir Khan to create a compelling campaign for the film which will increase its chances for making the cut.
This campaign will include organising screenings for the press and for Academy members, pushing for write-ups and editorials in leading US publications, releasing for-your-consideration advertisements in trade papers like Variety, Hollywood Reporter and Screen International, but most importantly by re-releasing Taare Zameen Par in the US - this time as a foreign language film for a white audience, as against its original ethnic release for a Hindi-speaking audience.
"As far as I am concerned, what I am going to be doing is hold additional screenings for members. I will hire a nice PR company or a publicist over there who can get screenings organised for journalists there who will write about the film. If they like it, they will say positive films about the film. Once they talk good about a film, people start wanting to watch it and think they should not miss it. The purpose is to get the members to see the film," Aamir said at a press conference.
Aamir Khan's biggest challenge will involve driving the maximum number of Committee members into the screenings to watch his film. Members of the Foreign Language Film committee are required to watch at least two-third of the total entries and make their selection from among those.
The five films that receive maximum votes from this roughly 600-member committee will comprise the final shortlist of five films in the Best Foreign Language Film category, which will be announced as part of the official Oscars announcement in Los Angeles in February next year.
Like Lagaan, if Taare Zameen Par does succeed in making the final shortlist, Aamir Khan will move on to his next challenge. This time, the focus will be on the 6,000-odd Academy members who will vote for just one out of the five entries.
All 6,000 members of the Academy needn't vote in any category, but if they decide to, it is imperative that they must watch all five films in that category.
The winning film is the one that receives maximum votes. That winner will be declared at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles on February 22, 2009.
It's a long and eventful journey ahead for Taare Zameen Par, one that will no doubt require much lobbying and pushing by star-producer Aamir Khan. Bollywood pundits say its chances are bright, not least because the Academy is already familiar with actor-producer Aamir Khan whose Lagaan was a favourite in the Foreign Language Film category just six years ago.
So, expect Aamir Khan to spend lots of time in the US in the months ahead.
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