Culture no barrier to great cinema

Harishchandrachi Factory's elimination from the running for the best foreign film Oscar is the continuation of a fine Indian tradition. A meagre handful of Indian films have made it to the shortlist since the awards were established; three so far, with none of them going on to win. And often, when an Indian entry is knocked out, there are graceless observations about cultural bias and prejudice by observers here. Paresh Mokashi, director of Harishchandrachi Factory has not gone quite so far, but he has trotted out another old trope; that American tastes differ from Indian tastes, and therefore the Oscar jury's rejection of the movie does not truly reflect the movie's worth. His reasoning, unfortunately, is flimsy.

Cultural barriers may indeed prevent much of the dross being churned out by film industries the world over from crossing over to international audiences. But those movies are made to cater to the lowest common denominator. The Oscars, on the other hand, are meant to reward excellence. And that is where Mokashi's reasoning falls short. Cinematic excellence is not bounded by geographical and cultural limits. Movies of this kind are often like a Rorschach test; every audience can find something to take away from them. They present a localised narrative, but through it they reflect certain truths and observations that resonate across cultures. That these films are in another language or have a different aesthetic sensibility does not prevent audiences from recognising this.

If Mokashi's logic were true, there would be no explaining the movies that do go on to win in the foreign language category every year, many of them from cultures as or more alien to the US as India's. When an Indian movie, Lagaan, last made it to the shortlist, it lost out to No Man's Land, a film from Bosnia-Herzegovina, made in a language unknown to US audiences, set in the middle of a conflict alien to them. Yet, its blackly ironic reflection on the tragedy of human nature made a mockery of such barriers. Indian movies have lost for no other reason than they fall short of such standards.