THE HINDI FILM industry or rather the ‘Big Bad World of Bollywood’ as it is called is perhaps the biggest and the largest film industry in the world. Even though India has been the leading player in international Cinema - making almost the maximum number of movies annually - her track record at the Oscar Awards ballgame has been disappointing and even downright dismal.

The country produces a host of movies every year and its film industry has an estimated annual turnover of 60 billion rupees ($1.3Billion). It employs nearly six million people. So with so much money spent on this industry, with so many films being made, new talents being
promoted each year, why is it that we cannot manage to send even one film every year to the Oscars? And we think about winning one?

Indian cinema is recognized globally for its technological advancements, variety, visual splendor, skilled technicians, and for its reach and returns. Despite all this, Indian movies have not been able to break into the coveted Oscar circle – it is a dream that still remains unfulfilled. Lack of a proper script or the poor technicality may be the common reasons for the lack of the Hindi film industry’s success at the global market.
Since time, immemorial Hindi films have used the same old story – “Boy falls in love with a girl, problems arise due to caste, status, daddy or the villain, but in the end, things get sorted out and the couple lived happily ever after”. No wonder these films go unnoticed at the international level, but still amuse the national audience. Although there have been revolutionary cinemas created from time to time, the production of such films are less in comparison to other entertainers.
Every year by March or April, we have the very famous Filmfare awards, considered to be the biggest event for the Hindi film industry. Is achieving the Filmfare awards the dead end of such a vast industry? Who would not be proud of the fact that Indian cinema could go beyond just aiming for the filmfares? Aspiring for the Oscars can give Indian cinema a global stand and will help it to achieve international acclaim.
But the score card is not an absolute zero, indeed, there have been stray achievements here and there and it is interesting to take a look at them during the Oscar Awards Month of February. The first Indian film ever to be nominated for the ‘Best Picture‘(Foreign) was "Mother India" (1957). In spite of the hype created about "Lagaan" and the promotional activity undertook by the producers and stars in Los Angeles, the movie failed to win the award when it was nominated for the Best Picture - Foreign category in the Oscars. Another interesting fact worth mentioning here is the matter of pride and pleasure we experience when we note that an Indian filmmaker - the only one till today - was chosen to be awarded an Honorary Oscar for Life Achievement. That was Satyajit Ray,
the only Indian film maker who is internationally known and respected for his movies. The other Indian to win an Oscar is Bhanu Athaiya, the well-known costume designer of Bombay. She was part of the team of designers who won the Oscar for 'Best Costume' award.
Strictly speaking, "Gandhi" was a British production, but indeed
India can take pride that it had a stake in the picture as investor, and Ben Kingsley who got the Best Actor Oscar for portraying Gandhi, is partly Indian, with parental links in Gujarat. Another Indian who received an Oscar nomination and created a stir is Shekhar Kapoor for
his "Elizabeth" in 1998. But he did not get the Oscar.
If we could come so close, then what is it that keeps us away from winning an Oscar? Bollywood has the common trait of focusing on dance numbers and the costumes, which we seldom see in Hollywood. The repetitiveness of the scripts and the stories in our movies degrade our path to our dream destination. It is not that our movies are not good or not up to the level of Hollywood blockbusters. We do have it in us to make it to the Oscars. It is time we got home an Oscar, something more than a Filmfare to enhance the glory of our
film industry. Indeed, the sky is not just the limit. With the increasing interest in Indian cinema in the West, perhaps a day might dawn when Indian movies would proudly march all the way to Los Angeles for justifiably competing for the Oscar Awards and returning home with the much coveted statuette. Maybe some time in the future, some day, it would happen.