'Rang De Basanti' out of Oscar race 17th Jan 2007
14.01 IST
By Agencies
India's official entry to the Oscars Rang De Basanti has lost out in the race for Best Foreign Film in the shortlist ahead of nominations for the category.
Directed by Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra , the critically acclaimed and commercially successful film has performances by Aamir Khan , Atul Kulkarni and Soha Ali Khan among others.
However, Indians still have something to cheer about as Canada's official entry Water , directed by Indian-born Deepa Mehta and starring Bollywood heartthrob John Abraham and model Lisa Ray , has made it to the shortlist of nine films.
Nine films were short listed ahead of the nominations for the Best Foreign Film prize at this year's Oscars, which were announced in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
The films short-listed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences include Pedro Almodovar's `Volver' (Spain), Mexico's entry ‘Pan's Labyrinth’, a fantasy from Guillermo Del Toro and Germany's ‘The Lives of Others’.
Among the short listed movies, five would be nominated for the prestigious award on January 23.
But a surprise omission was China's ‘Curse of the Golden Flower’, Zhang Yimou's epic which had been tipped to vie for the top prize at the Oscars, which take place in Hollywood on February 25.
An Indian film is yet to win the top prize in the foreign film category, though a few movies have made it to the last five. Aamir starrer Lagaan had made it to the final five in foreign film category in 2002, when a Bosnian movie had eventually won the coveted prize.
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'Rang De Basanti' out of Oscar race
