Its 'that' time of the year...

So Rang De Basanti (RDB) is India’s entry for Academy awards this year! Now all news channels will feature half an hour inane shows on the movie, people (you have seen them but will not be able to place them) will come and give their unwanted opinion on “what are our chances of winning the Oscars?”
Amir Khan will be asked whether he intends to use his past experience of Lagaan this time (of course he will, you fool!). And of course Munnabhai team will grudgingly wish the RDB team for the best of luck.
And one question that will be raised is this: Is RDB the best choice? And being the lukhkha that I am today, I will take that bait and record my response. So here goes!
Out of the 9 movies submitted to the panel, I think the real contenders were only 3: RDB, Lage Raho Munnabhai and Omkara. The fact that KANK was even sent for this consideration shows the kind of optimistic chap that Karan ‘family’ Johar is. I mean its one thing to love the movies you make, no matter how sub-standard they are but it’s quite a different thing to start believing that it’s a world-class product. But, I digress. Let me take the three movies that we are all proud of:
Omkara- a great motion picture with powerhouse performances from Saif, Konkana Sensharma and Ajay Devgan. Very few movies can really capture the mood of a region as this one has done. But what would it offer to an Academy award jury member? Not much really. They have probably seen the adaptations of Othello numerous times.
RDB- by far the most honest movie to be created in the recent times. It is not the perfect movie (watch Sehar, if you want a perfect movie). It is flawed, in the doctrine it proposes and that’s where it touches one’s heart. Find me a man who doesn’t feel something stirring within after watching RDB. This movie has its heart in the right place.
Oscars, I guess, are different ballgame. The Academy is known for its political correctness and in the days of mindless violence everywhere, a movie where protagonists have to resort to violence to get heard, doesn’t really fit the bill. And, thus I come to my would-have-been choice:
Lage Raho Munnabhai- This movie would have made the cut where RDB probably might fail. It pays tribute to the great Mahatma who made non-violence fashionable in today’s world. It’s a very smart movie with all the ingredient just right. If there ever was a politically correct movie, this is it. So I think this would have been our best bet for Oscars.
I love RDB far more than I could ever like Lage Raho, for the simple reason: RDB speaks to you personally. Even if it doesn’t win the coveted statute, it has already won something far more precious: our hearts.