There is no doubt that Aamir Khan is one of the very few actors in Indian cinema who is quite aware of what it takes for a film to make an indelible mark at the Academy Awards. His ‘Lagaan’, directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, is the last Indian film to have made it to the top 5 of the ‘Best Foreign Film’ category. While we have gone close to the final five a few times since then, the wait continues.
When it was announced that his ‘Laapataa Ladies’, directed by Kiran Rao, is India’s official entry to the Oscars, there were wide sections of the audience who thought this could be India’s year at the Oscars. Of course, there was also the controversy around Payal Kapadia’s ‘All We Imagine as Light’ not being selected by the Indian jury. Nevertheless, ‘Laapataa Ladies’ didn’t make it to the Oscars 202 shortlist and dropped out of the race to the Academy Awards.
In an event organised by ‘ABP Network’, Aamir was asked about this miss and if anything didn’t work well in ‘Laapataa Ladies’. “It was a beautiful film and there was no shortage on fronts,” said Aamir, who pointed out that almost every country in the world is eligible to send entries to the Oscars. “Even this time, there were almost 80-85 entries from different parts of the world and everyone sent in their best film, right? In fact, this category has the toughest competition in the Oscars.”
Aamir also pointed out how extremely subjective like a film is and finding a spot in the Oscars race depends on a lot on this likeability and the composition of the members of the selection panel. “Honestly, we have to understand that there are other language films that might have been genuinely better or let me put it this way… films that the members liked better. It doesn’t mean we weren’t good. It just means the members liked the other films better than ours. This is a very subjective decision,” said Aamir stumping his audience with a trick question.
“Okay, now you tell me which is the better film between ‘Mother India’ and ‘Mughal-e-Azam’? Which film had better acting? How would you compare? That’s why I am saying it is all subjective. It isn’t like a race where the start point and end point are the same. Filmmaking and creative mediums, in general, are very different. These are very personal choices and very difficult to choose. So, don’t take it too seriously,” he said.