Why Get Giddy with Excitement over the Oscars?
Oscars for Indian films may be about good art but is also good business
India won two Oscars: Naatu Naatu from RRR won Best Original Song and The Elephant Whisperers won Best Documentary Short Subject. Indian actress Deepika Padukone was invited to introduce the song, Naatu Naatu.
India is giddy with excitement with almost everyone of note - from the film industry (of course) celebrating the two awards as some pinnacle of success. There was a similar but more muted celebration over the Booker prize for Geetanjali Shree's Hindi novel ‘Tomb of Sand’. I don’t want to detract from the celebrations but this kind of national euphoria over another country’s award seems a bit embarrassing for a country of our size and potential.
Art and literature are essentially about individual creativity and skill and talent - of expressing one’s point of view in one’s own voice. Over-indexing on any kind of award detracts from this essential location of a creative person’s sustenance in one’s own point of view. Second, even if one were to defer to some awards as curators of that which is good and praiseworthy, it should worry us that the best, most coveted award is not one given by our country. Our own film industry awards have mostly become worthless because they are so multifarious and lack credibility. It is true that the Oscars will certainly lead to commercial success for the two awardees - from a more global audience and copycat deference in India. That is certainly something to be celebrated but personally by the film producers, not the country as a whole.
Finally, the Oscars are faced with a declining audience and are searching for relevance in their own country. It may be good for those celebrating to acknowledge that at least part of this appreciation for the Indian creative industry is a nod to the Indian market. By celebrating Indian films, the Oscars have made themselves relevant to the very large Indian audience. Maybe it’s not just about good art but also good business.