There's an Indian connection in 4 films with 36 Oscar nominations
India is making its presence felt at the Oscars with four of the films with the highest number of nominations having a connection to the country, and
Chennai-based classical Carnatic music vocalist Jayashri Ramnath being nominated for writing the Tamil song 'Pi's Lullaby' for director Ang Lee's 'Life of Pi'.
Ramnath, known on the concert circuit as
Bombay Jayashri, shares the nomination for 'Best Original Song' with Canadian music director Mychael Danna, who has also been nominated for 'Best Original Score' for the same movie. Writing the song was easy, said the singer. "What I wrote is something every mother has on her lips when she cuddles her child," said Jayashri about the short song that uses simple words to show a mother's affection for her child.
Large parts of Ang Lee's 'Life of Pi' and Kathryn Bigelow's 'Zero Dark Thirty', which are up against each other for the 2013 Academy Award for Best Picture, were shot in India. The announcements were made in Los Angeles on Thursday.
Steven Spielberg's American civil war saga 'Lincoln', which leads the pack with 12 nominations, including best director, actor and supporting actress, comes from the
Reliance-DreamWorks stable.
A very pleased Anil Ambani said, "We are incredibly proud to have partnered with Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider in the making of 'Lincoln'. I congratulate them and the great cast and crew for the 12 Oscar nominations."
'Life of Pi', which received 11 nominations, has an almost entirely Indian cast, led by Sooraj Sharma, and is set in Puducherry (formerly Pondicherry) till it shifts to the churning seas.
In Chandigarh's crowded Manimajra market, shopkeepers were thrilled to hear that Bigelow's film is in the running for five Academy Awards. Last year,
Manimajra was camouflaged to look like Abbotabad in Pakistan for the film which chronicles the last days of Osama bin Laden. Storefronts were given Urdu signs, autorickshaws were painted with Pakistani registration plates, and a number of shopkeepers got walk-on parts.
Though his name isn't on the list,
Bollywood actor Anupam Kher is thrilled because the film in which he plays a doctor, 'Silver Linings Playbook' has got eight nominations. "I am proud that I can share the excitement with the spectacular cast and crew of 'Silver Linings Playbook'," Kher said.
India has had its time in the arc lights at the Oscars in the past with Bhanu Athaiya sharing an award for costume design for 'Gandhi' in 1982, and Satyajit Ray being given an honorary award in 1992. Till date, though, 2008 remains India's finest moment at the Oscars with music director and composer A R Rahman, sound engineer Resul Pookutty and lyricist Gulzar receiving awards for the film 'Slumdog Millionaire'.
'Silver Linings' in race, Kher thrilled
In Chandigarh's crowded Manimajra market, shopkeepers were thrilled to hear that Bigelow's film is in the running for five Academy Awards. Last year, Manimajra was camouflaged to look like Abbottabad in Pakistan for the film which chronicles the last days of Osama bin Laden. Storefronts were given Urdu signs, autorickshaws were painted with Pakistani registration plates, and a number of shopkeepers got walk-on parts.
Though his name isn't on the list, Bollywood actor Anupam Kher is thrilled because the film in which he plays a doctor, "Silver Linings Playbook" has got eight nominations. "I am proud that I can share the excitement with the spectacular cast and crew of "Silver Linings Playbook"," Kher said.
India has had its time in the arc lights at the Oscars in the past with Bhanu Athaiya sharing an award for costume design for "Gandhi" in 1982, and Satyajit Ray being given an honorary award in 1992.
Till date, though, 2008 remains India's finest moment at the Oscars with music director and composer A R Rahman, sound engineer Resul Pookutty and lyricist Gulzar receiving awards for the film "Slumdog Millionaire".
