When are they going to cultivate the art of intelligent dialogue and stop bursting into dance when they run out of ideas - which is often?

Edsa,

Sometime soon.I think your comments while true about much of "Bollywood" are not true 100% and unfairly harsh.See Dor, Taare Zameen Par,Dharm,Khoya Khoya Chand - just for some examples of subtle and understated performances without the usual song and dance.

While China and S Korea have won quite a few awards - in Hollywood and Cannes, the poor Bollies try desperately but never win. Does it strke them that their products are just puerile and sub-standard?

They must learn to be suave & sophisticated, subtle and understated - not loud and garish.
When are they going to cultivate the art of intelligent dialogue and stop bursting into dance when they run out of ideas - which is often?

Well, folks, Eklavya's run has ended .See this

I see something black in the lentils - not because of Eklavya but because Jiri Menzel,Ang Lee and evern Persepolis lost out

desiDiva,
Glad you agreed with my choice.I thought Dor was a very srong feminist statement with universal appeal and never descended into maudlin

Now of course, with all that ranting and raving — I am sure Ek will win (maybe Big B will foot the money for the publicity, I am sure he can afford it).

Oh,I hope not!
and now totally off topic:

need to get into a better routine with my baby

How old is your baby ?:-)

I seem to get to all the "fun entries" so damn late --by the time I play catch up there are a few posts about car racing...I need to get into a better routine with my baby -- I am an expired opinion. So for what it is worth, my two paisa on the subject.

Runa -- what an absolute rockin' choice. Unforgettable characters, an engaging 'original' plot which explores the unlikely friendship between two women from different upbringings and circumstance.

It was refreshing to see female characters in a Hindi movie who defied the filmi stereotype. The acting never gets hamy and the direction and Cinematography do not overwhelm as to retract from the story of these two women.

I was originally going to say Rang De Basanti. Rang De aptly shows the friendship of multi-dimensional characters , excellent direction, and great story-line not scared to be over-the-top with an argumentative end.

"Ek's" biggest flaw was th lead actor Amitabh (talk about being flamed Runa -- I am hoping I won't get struck by lightening).

He mumbled in the entire movie since when is being inaudible equate to being enigmatic. Big B was too busy being big that the entire subtley of the character he purports to play is lost in the persona of Amitabh Bachchan.

If "we" want to win the Oscars why don't we do something different...instead of offering various forms of period/eclectic movies that just don't win --- why not try an entry which can inspire and engage universal emotion that crosses cultural and religious borders.

Dor and Rang are of the latter genre -- one need not be in Indian or a woman to understand the emotions presented in these stories -- they cross the cultural divide.

On a technical note -- foreign films depend greatly on US publicity (i.e. money) to gain attention and acclaim here by the academy....unless India spends the big bucks to further their entry, the likelihood of it getting noticed is less...

Now of course, with all that ranting and raving -- I am sure Ek will win (maybe Big B will foot the money for the publicity, I am sure he can afford it).

i don't think costumes matter much if the movie is crap. feel shame as a Tam that the academy actually sent...ugh...Jeans.

aw, Sivaji would have been brilliant. imagine them stuffy academy types watching him go 'Koooooll!'

mm..looking at the submissions this year..my prediction (though i don't know most of the films) would be Taxidermia (no chance in hell of making it though), 4 months 3 weeks, Lust, Caution, the new Denys Arcand and Persepolis (if only to flip the bird at Iran).

(gah, wordpress swallowed my previous comment)

I just followed the link to the wiki list of entries :
Eklavya has NO chance.
The list has one of my favortites Czech director Jiri Menzel who is a previous Oscar winner for "My Sweet little Village" and also the redoubtable Ang Lee with "Lust and Caution"

Runa,
Full support for 'Dor'..
Don't know which movies were released this year, so can't suggest anything better :(, but I think Gandhi My father or Chak de would have been good options too, am glad they are not sending ..vaaji...vaaji-Shivaaji heh heh, cause it would have bowled out the jej saahibs and sahibaas totally

Eklavya was OK, but there were better movies made in India in '07, e.g., "Cheeni Kum" and "Life in a Metro". Don't know anything about movies in languages other than Hindi.

I can tell you what I thought of Eklavya.Great idea and fatally flawed execution. MINI SPOILER: The end was a cop-out.

I would be very disappointed if Eklavya won an Oscar- which I do not think is likely. "Lagaan" was way better as a movie - much more heart.

I know I'll get flamed :-) but my vote goes to "Dor"

Karthik, Wikipedia has a complete list of submissions for the 80th Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. I'm not a foreign-language film buff, so I have no clue what the competition is like.

The only name I recognized is the selection by France, Persepolis, an animated film based on a graphic novel. It's a controversial story about a young girl in Iran during the Revolution. Considering the current political climate, this will probably be a popular pick and justifiably so, going by the reviews!

Reading Maximum City, I know VV Chopra wanted to move to Hollywood, so I am not surprised that the critics love the movie and most of the masses did not.

I wonder what the other nominations are in the category, that will give us some idea on what Eklavya's chances are.