The race has begun once again as film fraternities all over the world compete to gain a stand at one of the most prestigious film awards. Yes, the Oscars. And India too isn’t lagging behind when it comes to such selections. Slumdog Millionaire rekindled hopes of Bollywood entertaining mass audiences. And now Visaranai is being seen as a possible winner in the ‘Foreign Film’ category.
History Of Indian Movies At The Oscars
‘Mother India’ was India’s first ever entry in 1958. Directed by Mehboob Khan, it won rave reviews but couldn’t make the cut at the Academy Awards, losing to ‘Nights of Cabiria’ by one vote.
Salaam Bombay!(directed by Mira Nair) was nominated as an entry in 1989. But it lost to Pelle the Conqueror, a Danish movie directed by Bille August.
For over a decade, the Academy Awards didn’t see any Indian representation. Then in 2002, Ashutosh Gowarikar set up high hopes by releasing ‘Lagaan’. The movie was nominated in the same category and established his name in the industry.
The last entry was in 2007 when Deepa Mehta’s ‘Water’ which was the final conclusion to the Elements trilogy.
So What’s All The Commotion About Visaranai
Visaranai (translating to interrogation) is a deeply grizzly tale that touches on the issue of police brutality. Tamil film director Vetrimaran has garnered universal acclaim for his work which already has three National Film awards to its list of achievements.
A tale of jailed inmates who take it upon themselves to uncover the secrets of the very system that scrutinizes them. A major portion of the movie deals with corruption deeply seated in the country and the characters who strive to survive to tell the world their story.
Visaranai is produced by Wunderbar Productions owned by actor Dhanush and is a rendition of M. Chandrakumar’s novel ‘Lock Up’.
But it wasn’t a simple matter of choice. The movie was selected out of 29 entries after a rigorous process of analyzing each one of them.
The film premiered in the Orrizonti (Horizons) section of the 72nd Venice Film Festival and is a recipient of the Amnesty International Italia Award. Special appreciation has been directed towards the screenplay and acting which has been described as ‘lifelike’.
Other movies produced by the Southern Film Industry that were nominated in the past include Jeans, Indian, Kurithipunal, Devar Magan, Anjali, Nayagan, Deiva Magan. The 89th Academy Awards are set to be held in February 2017 in Los Angeles.
What’s your views on this entry? Is there any other movie that you think was more deserving for this? Share your opinion in the comment section below.