Harischandrachi Factory is India’s Oscar entry

This year Marathi film Harischandrachi Factory is India’s entry for Oscar.  This film was screened at City Pride Kothrud during Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) in January this year. The two-hour-long film depicts the struggle of Dadasaheb Phalke, the father of Indian cinema, to make ‘Raja Harishchandra’ in 1913, India’s first feature film. Interestingly, the female roles in the film were played by male actors. I could watch the film, courtesy PIFF and you can read more about the film here.

However India’s first feature film was made by Ram Chandra Gopal Torne (known as Dadasaheb Torne) named ‘Pundalik’. More about him and the film ‘Pundalik’ can be read at Wikipedia.

The film is based on time when British ruled India. Will this film fetch an Oscar for India or face the same fate as Lagaan?

Slumdog Millionaire bags 8 Oscars while Rahman wins 2

Slumdog Millionaire-the rags to riches-story based on slums in Mumbai has swept the Academy Awards by winning 8 Oscars out of 10 nominations. Check out Oscar site for the categories in which this movie won the award. A. R. Rehman won 2 Oscars-one for original score and the other for the original song, thus becoming the first Indian to win Oscars. We are proud of you Rehman!

While the entire Slumdog crew is overjoyed by the awards, dancing and mesmerizing on the red carpet, Irfan Khan seems to be a bit different to all this. He is sitting quitely with a faint smile on his face!

Another interesting thing to note is Kate Winslet won Oscar this time for Best Actress in the leading role in the film “The Reader”. She was nominated several times but couldnt win the award in previous years.