Click to play videoNew Delhi: It isn’t the first time that Film Federation of India's choice for the desi entry to the Oscars is raising an eyebrow.
The film in question is Eklavya -The Royal Guard, which has been nominated as India’s official entry to the to the Oscars.
Director Farhan Akhtar has also said that “Eklavya is an exceptional film.”
Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukherji and Amitabh Bachchan starrer Paheli which was panned by critics and found no takers at the box office was the choice for the Academy Awards entry in 2006.
The FFI jury chose Paheli over other stronger Bollywood contenders like Black and Swades.
But the biggest Oscar entry joke came in 1999 when filmmaker Shankar's immensely missable Jeans starring Aishwarya Rai and Prashant was the chosen one as India's best bet for the Academy Awards.
The same year also saw the release of Ram Gopal Varma's critically and commercially acclaimed masterpiece Satya.
Regional cinema has again always been given a cold shoulder when it comes to India's Oscar entry hopefuls.
In 2003 jury members chose Sanjay Leela Bhansali's opulent costume kitsch Devdas starring Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai over Mani Ratnam's soulful cinematic gem Kannathil Muthammitaal.
This year again though three Tamil films including Paruthiveeran, Mozhi and Veyil were in the running. And according to the jury the big fight was a choice between Hindi films Eklavya, Dharm and Guru.
"Bollywood has a very strong lobby. People see Bollywood as Indian cinema and our films as South Indian cinema,” says Ameer director of Paruthiveeran.
The fact that regional cinema is not well represented among the jury members of the FFI could also well be a reason for the bias.
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