‘Barfi!’ nominated as India’s entry at the Oscars in Foreign Language Film category

'Barfi!' nominated as India's entry at the Oscars in Foreign Language Film category New Delhi: Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Barfi! has been nominated as India’s entry in the category of ‘Best Foreign Language Film’ at the Oscars in February next year.

The film, directed by Anurag Basu which also features Priyanka Chopra, has beaten 19 other films to be named India’s official entry to the Oscars. It registered a powerful box office collection in its opening week, by earning Rs. 58.6 crore.

The film, about love between differently-abled – a deaf and mute boy and an autistic girl – opened in approximately 700 screens in India on September 14.

Barfi! is the Indian entry to the Oscars. We selected it to represent the country out of 20 films,” Supran Sen, secretary general of the Film Federation of India, told PTI.

Priyanka Chopra, who is currently out of the country, tweeted “Yaaaaaay!!India’s official entry to the Oscars!!! Anurag sir,RK,Ills,ronnie,Sid n all! Wish I was in India to share this! Go team!”

Disney UTV, the producer and distributor of the film, was ecstatic at the success. “We are honoured that Barfi! has been selected to represent India as its official entry to the Academy Awards 2013. Barfi! is very close to the hearts of all of us at UTV, and it gives us great satisfaction that a film we have developed and nurtured from its inception has met with so much love from audiences and critics worldwide,” Siddharth Roy Kapur, managing director of Studios, Disney UTV, said in a statement.

“An added source of pride is that this is the fourth UTV film in the last seven years to have been selected to represent India at the Academy awards; our earlier selections being Rang De Basanti, Harishchandrachi Factory and Peepli Live,” he added.

The romantic comedy has touched viewers and critics alike with its simple, but powerful narrative. The film marked the Bollywood debut of southern actress Ileana D’Cruz, who has also been appreciated for her performance.

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24 Comments
  1. Author
    sputnik 12 years ago

    I don’t think it will make it to Top 5 or even Top 9.

  2. Fuzail 12 years ago

    Winning Oscar is a lost cause for this muvi…instead it ll be sued for “PLAGIARISM”…such shame it ll be… :-/

    • Bored 12 years ago

      Yes its a shame that such blind plagiarizer is being sent to Oscars!

  3. Serenzy 12 years ago

    Barfi! is a Superb Movie but I don’t Think ‘OSCAR Entry’ Superb.

    Will Not Even Come Close to a Nomination!

    I wud have Sent PST Instead[Though, Even that does Not Desrve it but atleast, it Stands a Chance].

    ………..

    Baba, Sputnik,

    Your View on PST?

    • Author
      sputnik 12 years ago

      Even if Barfi was completely original I don’t think it had any chance whatsoever.

      I think PST would have been a better choice to send it to the Oscars. Its not perfect either – 2nd half was not as good as the first half. But at least its based on a true story (a biopic which Academy usually likes) and the story is somewhat novel for the western audiences – a National champion who became a bandit. There are no songs in it – so that’s also a good thing.

      Paan Singh Tomar Review Tanqeed.com

      • Ritz 12 years ago

        Plus Irrfan is a known face to them.

        • Author
          sputnik 12 years ago

          Yes I forgot that. If Irfan could have got any top stars or Danny Boyle to support the movie its chances would have increased for a nomination.

  4. Susmita sarkar 12 years ago

    Ranbir n Priyanka’s work is really smthng extraordinary in this movie, but for oscar only this elements r nt enough…it needs much more sharpness n perfection…the movie ‘Barfi’ is good bt nt the best…

  5. Ritz 12 years ago

    Though I had issues with Deool, which are minor (accent related/ some scenes extended etc and pace)

    Still, the movie is unlike any bollywood movie and I feel that should have been a very good choice to send to the Academy. Its not a cryfest like say a Shwaas was or most regional movies (off late in last few years) which depended more on dramatics, its more subtle and is more grounded and addresses a larger issue without getting too serious and reads lot of things between the lines…

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2085783/

  6. Serenzy 12 years ago

    Ritz,

    ‘Shwas’ was a Crapfest??????

    Tujhi Sathakli Aahe kay?!?!?!

    • Ritz 12 years ago

      Nahi, bayka radvoon pore maarun (andhali karun) drama karun …paise kamavayache …paap re paap!

      (No, purposefully making the ladies and families cry, doing all these dramatics …especially by earning money by killing the little ones (or blinding them) and doing over-drama – is a SIN!! ”

      Shwas was a crapfest and I stand by it.

  7. Serenzy 12 years ago

    Ohh…u meant Cryfest!

    Sorry….

    • Ritz 12 years ago

      “Ohh…u meant Cryfest!

      Sorry….”

      One and the same thing for me ….kisiko rulana for the sake of money is crapfest / cryfest – be it DDLJ/ TZP / 3I / KKHH etc…all are cry fests!

  8. Ritz 12 years ago

    I loved the ending – last half an hour…i dont think this has been done ever in Indian cinema btw (shaking one’s faith in god)… (regional or bollywood)

    Naseeruddin Shah’s cameo is interesting btw

    • Ritz 12 years ago

      Naseeruddin Shah entry at below:

      • Ritz 12 years ago

        Definitely it is inspired from Amitabh’s entry in Paheli

        But still, the impact it leaves …considering the subject and the ending it far more effective! Good cinema by Umesh here.

  9. jaqsparow 12 years ago

    the title track is here:)

  10. Reddemon 12 years ago

    Barfi doesnt deserve an Oscar nomination.
    PST would have been an Ideal nominee.

  11. Reddemon 12 years ago

    I have not seen Deool so cant comment on it.

  12. Author
    sputnik 12 years ago

    This is from Dear Cinema and they have linked back to my post too.

    Who Selected “Barfi” as Indian Entry for Oscars?

    “While the director Anurag Basu expects his fans to pray for Barfi’s success at the coveted Oscars (He tweeted, “”Thank you (very) much!!! ‘Lekin abhi Delhi door hai!!’ Pray for us!!”), cyberspace is abuzz with the debate whether Basu’s obvious inspiration crosses the dotted lines of plagiarism.

    Sources tell us that the selection of Barfi wasn’t unanimous. Three members of the jury were dead against it.

    The Film Federation of India (FFI), the body responsible for the selection of Indian contender to the Oscars refused to reveal the names of the jury members. All we got to know is that the jury was headed by Assamese filmmaker Manju Bora.”

    “Sources tell us that the jury was territorially balanced as it had members from all corners of the country. However, the only other name we could find out was that of Sandeep Sawant, Marathi filmmaker whose “Shwas” was the official Indian entry to 2004 Academy Awards.

    FFI is the apex body for film trade in India, mostly headed by film producers. The current chairman is Vinod K. Lamba. Previous presidents of FFI have been T. P. Aggarwal and L. Suresh.

    We googled and browsed through IMDb and Wikipedia in vain to know more about the president, however, what came to our rescue was surprisingly Facebook. Here is Mr. Lamba’s introduction in his (probably) own words:-

    “Have been awarded best ROTARY president FOR ROTARY midwest. HONY.GEN.SECT MOTION PICTURES ASSOCIATION,DELHI;FILM FEDERATION OF INDIA,MUMBAI F;D.C HONY.G.secretary Our Shri C.L. company SELECT PICTURES is in existence since 1957 created by my father. After his sudden accidental death in 1967 I have been managing for over 44years.Had a very big Chain of Cinemas. Hold Negative/CopyRights of number of films. Had release award winning films like ANOKHI RAAT,ANUPAMA GHARAONDA etc.”

    https://dearcinema.com/article/who-selected-barfi-as-indian-entry-for-oscars/

  13. Author
    sputnik 11 years ago

    Rediff has done a poll. Readers’ Pick: Indian Films That REALLY Deserve Oscar Entry and Ek Tha Tiger was one of the movies that people chose 😉

    https://www.rediff.com/movies/slide-show/slide-show-1-readers-s-pick-films-that-really-deserve-oscar-entry/20121003.htm

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