The Oscar Craze hits Mumbai

The Oscar craze has begun-- but not in Hollywood. Big names in Bollywood are at each other's throats over India's official entry to the Oscars for the "Foreign Film" category.

The drama over the nomination is so intense, I get where all the over-the-top dialogues in their films come from. This is a brief chronology of what happened: First, the jury selected Eklavya- The Royal Guard, which got stellar reviews from both The New York Times and The LA Times. Unfortunately, it did not have the same fate at the Indian box office. Then, the director of the incredible film Dharm about a conservative Hindu priest (which went to the Cannes Festival, but did even worse at the box office) takes the matter to court, claiming that three of the jurors who chose Eklavya are good friends with Eklavya's director, Vidhu Vinod Chopra (And she has a point-- one of the jurors directed the making of Eklavya, a promotional film for the movie).

But the drama goes on. Big names such as Sajid Khan (a comedian, and most recently, a director of a box office hit), his sister Farah Khan (choreographer, and now awaiting the release of her second directorial venture) and Anupam Kher (winner of eight Filmfare Awards, Bollywood's Oscars, and who has starred in two of Chopra's films) did not agree with Eklavya as the official entry. And Chopra did not agree with this. In an interview, he questioned the knowledge and acting skills of anyone who attacked his film's entry for the Oscars.

But, who are Sajid and Farah to just stand back and listen? Sajid Khan responded in an open letter, and Farah talked about the nasty words spoken by Chopra in an interview.

Whew. Too much drama! Sadly, if these icons spent more time making better films and supporting each other, maybe India, or Bollywood, wouldn't need the Oscars.