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Gully Boy going to the Oscars

    In a surprising move today, ‘Gully Boy’ has been selected  to represent India in the Foreign Films category at the Oscars. Now whether or not it is selected as a nomination, that’s another story.

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    To be fair, it’s not as surprising as choosing ‘Paheli’ or ‘Barfi!’ as India’s selection, but ‘Gully Boy’ is a commercial film that might or might not bear a resemblance to another Oscar-nominated film, ‘8 Mile’, though it is based on the lives of two Mumbai rappers, Naezy and Divine. It might be like deja-vu for members of the academy, the people who decide which films go through.

    Out of the 27 films that were being considered including ‘Dear Comrade’, ‘Andhadhun’, ‘Uri’, ‘Super Deluxe’ and ‘Article 15’, ‘Gully Boy’ was picked as the official selection.

    Since ‘Andhadhun’ is the remake of another foreign film, how can it be sent as an Indian film? Similarly, like ‘Barfi!’ was being considered when it was actually a copy of many foreign films. ‘Gully Boy’ was probably chosen based on its mainstream appeal as compared to the other films, it might appeal to members of the academy. If you have seen ‘Roma’, you would know what we are trying to say. Even though it was in a foreign language, it was a film that appealed to everyone.

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    When this news came out, you would think that the film has actually been nominated. It’s just a selection and bear in mind that so far only Mehboob Khan’s Mother India (1957), Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay! (1988), and Ashutosh Gowariker’s Lagaan (2001) have officially been nominated at the Oscars. So, there’s still a long way to go and lots of competition to fight from South Korea (Parasite), Japan (Weathering With You), Iran (Finding Farideh) and so on.

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    For now, everyone is happy, including Aloo’s papa:

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    Wait, isn’t his favorite film ‘Kalank’?

    The film’s leads and director have released their statement following this news:

    Ranveer Singh 

    Gully Boy echoed the voice of the streets. It will always be one of my most personal films. As always, I will keep striving towards making the flag of Hindi cinema fly high. I am very happy that the passionate hard work that our cast and crew put into creating Gully Boy is reaping rewards.

    It’s a proud moment for our entire team. I am especially proud of and happy for Zoya! Gully Boy is her (Tiger) baby, and I am blessed to have been a part of her maverick vision. With the love and support of our beloved audience, we are hoping to make a significant mark on the world stage.

    Alia Bhatt

    Gully Boy as a film is really special to me. What’s even more special is that it has had such a long run after releasing in February. It won at the Melbourne Film Festival and then it was also shown in Japan. Now, it’s been selected as India’s official entry for the Academy. So, hereon, I just hope, pray and wish that we make it to the nomination and then win. This is a first and it’s a big deal for us. As a team, we are very excited.

    Zoya Akhtar

    We are so thrilled that Gully Boy has been selected as India’s official entry to the 92nd Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category. Thank you to the Film Federation of India, Supran Sen, Aparna Sen and a big congratulations to our spectacular cast and crew.

    Good luck to the team of ‘Gully Boy’!

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    14 thoughts on “Gully Boy going to the Oscars”

    1. When I saw the over the top performance by ranveer,and Alia , trying to be j z and boyeance of India , that cringe worthy promotion was enough to skip this film,do not think ,missed much ! Now , Oscar , LOL ,kjo aunty is out of control in BW !

    2. @monalisa Wherever there are people, politics happens. What I’m saying is ensure that something worthy goes, so that our nominated movies don’t become laughing stock. The sad part is that credibility and integrity in bollywood no longer exists. Lobbying happens in Hollywood: agreed, but there’s also some genuine concrete effort done, which doesn’t happen in Bollywood. Gullyboy is good, but there were other far better movies which deserved a fair chance.

    3. Umm one of the most overrated movie perhaps in the history of Bollywood . I like Ranger so much and I say this after watching this movie. Alia’s performance was ordinary at best . But the hype … even and andhadhun did not get such reviews which actually was a very good movie.

    4. Glad you clarified the nomination thing Admin, but why is this aloo paratha acting like this her movie and papa jo and Soni razdan are celebrating her on social media to no extent, I mean she’s just a supporting cast in the movie and even in that case Sidharth Chaturvedi and other actors shine more then her in terms of character performance. Like Kangana rightly said she is pretty much mediocre in the film, where does she get the guts and ideas to leaverage this and always make it about her shining moment.

      1. This a shining moment for Zoya and Ranveer, and as usual Alia is tagging along other people’s successes. If she wasn’t in the movie, no one would notice. I guess in the sea of remakes and bad films, Gully boy really stands out. Let’s see if it gets an actual nomination

    5. Article 15 could have been a better film though I am a die-hard Deepika-Ranvir fan 🙂

      I think caste-based discrimination is still a real big problem in rural India. If only they had selected that movie, maybe more people would have watched the movie and learn more about this discrimination (and raise voice in the future for Dalits)

      But again — Bollywood does not work that way – I guess !!!

      Oh I forget that Aalia was also in Gully Boy 😉

    6. Doesn’t slumdog itself copied of amitabh bachchan’s 70s films.when this Oscar people give original film a award.

    7. How many awards has gully boy got as best film in local awards? have they forgotten other gems that released? Most of the credit goes to kjo and alia (nepotism, bringing others down) for playing a huge role in bringing Bollywood towards its end? web content, regional stuff also played a significant part in this direction.

      1. Gully Boy was released in February 2019. The movie will be eligible for awards (including National Awards) next year only. It has won awards in Bucheon Film Festival and International and Indian Film Festival of Melbourne. Was screened at Berlin Film Festival.

        1. the question is not when gully boy got released. the question is whether other other movies were fairly evaluated or not.There were some movies of other regional language which were miles ahead in ahead of quality of content. The result is that due to favoritism and petty politics for selection, very few movies get selected in the final stage.

          1. Lol.. your first question was “how many awards has Gully Boy got as best film in local awards?” I literally answered your question, it got none since it was released this year (will only be eligable for awards next year).. simple
            I have no intention of debating with you but thought will clarify y how many awards Gully Boy won since that was the first question you asked in the previous comment.

            1. Does this mean that number of awards a movie gets at film festivals is directly proportional to the increased possibility of getting shortlisted for Oscar nominations for the concerned jury? Well, there are lot many movies which won loads of appreciation at international level but couldn’t get properly promoted here due to money and very fewer levels of interest. If we compare those movies with Gully boy, the movie couldn’t have stood a chance. But nowadays, might is right. Whoever has money and power gets opportunities. Anyways, let’s see how is Oscar winning process is carried forward? Ending discussion from my side, bye.

            2. You are the one who literally brought up the award nomination thing I answered. What is your problem, dude? I never said or implied Gully Boy was the best. I literally answered your question.
              If you read up on Oscar nomination process you will know it is all about campaigning, lobbying and politics. Big Hollywood studios spent millions on promoting their movies to get an Oscar nomination. Last year Netflix spent around 50 million dollars to push Roma for best picture. Read up on what Aamir did; the money he spent, the lobbying and publicity he did for Lagaan to get noticed for nominations. If you really believe Oscars and Hollywood is above politics, lobbying publicity and promotions you are dearly wrong. Wheather Gully Boy wins a nomination or not is another thing but they have the time, money to go all out with campaigns like Aamir did. The small movies India send to Oscar hardly get noticed since they rarely have the money to fund publicity campaigns and lobbying. Aamir did it because he had the money to spent and since he was a big star in India Oscar voters were more ready to see a movie he starred in and was lobbying for. I have included some articles so that you can get a better understanding of things.

              https://www.google.com/amp/s/variety.com/2019/biz/awards/oscar-campaign-spending-1203113199/amp/

              https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.livemint.com/Consumer/qPQ2LjKriYPbUCMqRgjF1H/How-much-it-costs-to-send-an-Indian-film-submission-for-the.html%3ffacet=amp

              https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-the-arts/films/story/20020318-lagaan-as-race-for-oscars-draws-to-a-close-aamir-khan-proves-his-marketing-acumen-795737-2002-03-25
              https://www.google.com/amp/s/qz.com/india/509739/why-an-indian-film-has-never-won-an-oscar/amp/

              This the end of discussion from my side as well.

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