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Deepa Mehta

'Water' fails to break the Oscar jinx for India
26th Feb 2007 14.00 IST
By Agencies

India-born writer-director Deepa Mehta 's Water , a story about the plight of Hindu widows in 1930s, failed to win the best foreign film Oscar losing out to Germany's 'The Lives of Others'.

The Oscar jinx that has dogged Indian filmmakers continued as the film, a Canadian entry, lost to the movie based on the life of a playwright and his actress-girlfriend in 1980s East Berlin.

In 2002, Ashutosh Gowarikar 's Lagaan lost to 'No Man's Land', a film based on the Balkan issue. Earlier Mehboob Khan's 'Mother India' (1957) and Mira Nair 's 'Salaam Bombay' (1988) had also made it to top five but failed to win the coveted Academy award.

Directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, the film scored over 'Water', 'After the Wedding' from Denmark, 'Days of Glory' ("Indigenes") from Algeria and 'Pan's Labyrinth,' from Mexico.

Mehta, however, turned heads in her fashion choice for the evening, walking the red carpet in an exquisite vintage red and gold sari.

"This sari belongs to my mother," Mehta said. "She got it from her mother. So it is three generations old."

Joining Mehta were ‘Water’ co-stars John Abraham , in a black sherwani, and Lisa Ray , who donned a gold satin gown with a plunging neckline.

‘Water's shooting in India had to be scrapped following protests from Sangh Parivar outfits and it was completed in Sri Lanka.

On stage, director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck thanked his actors and crew and had a special word of thanks for fellow native German speaker Arnold Schwarzenegger, "for teaching me that the words "I can't' should be stricken from my vocabulary,'" von Donnersmarck said.

The nonfiction hit "An Inconvenient Truth," a chronicle of former vice president Al Gore's campaign to warn the world about global warming, was picked as best documentary.

"People all over the world, we need to solve the climate crisis. It's not a political issue. It's a moral issue," Gore said, joining the film's director, Davis Guggenheim, on stage.

'An Inconvenient Truth' also won original song for Melissa Etheridge's 'I Need to Wake Up'.

Argentinean composer Gustavo Santaolalla won his second straight Oscar for original score for 'Babel,' a film "that helped us understand better who we are and why and what we are here for," he said. He won the same prize a year ago for 'Brokeback Mountain'.

'Little Miss Sunshine' also won the original screenplay Oscar for first-time screenwriter Michael Arndt.

"When I was a kid, my family drove 600 miles in a VW bus with a broken clutch," Arndt said, describing a road trip that mirrored the one in the film. "It ended up being one of the funniest things we did together."

'The Departed' won best-adapted screenplay for William Monahan. It was based on the Hong Kong crime thriller 'Infernal Affairs'.

'Pan's Labyrinth,' the savage fairy tale that took the first two Oscars, for art direction and makeup kicked off an Oscar evening stuffed with contenders from around the globe.

Complete list of winners at the 79th annual Academy Awards, presented Sunday night at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles:

Best Motion Picture: ``The Departed''

Lead Actor: Forest Whitaker, ``The Last King of Scotland''

Lead Actress: Helen Mirren, ``The Queen''

Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin, ``Little Miss Sunshine''

Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson, ``Dreamgirls''

Directing: Martin Scorsese, ``The Departed''

Foreign Language Film: ``The Lives of Others,'' Germany

Adapted Screenplay: William Monahan, ``The Departed''

Original Screenplay: Michael Arndt, ``Little Miss Sunshine''

Animated Feature Film: ``Happy Feet''

Art Direction: ``Pan's Labyrinth''

Cinematography: ``Pan's Labyrinth''

Sound Mixing: ``Dreamgirls''

Sound Editing: ``Letters From Iwo Jima''

Original Score: ``Babel,'' Gustavo Santaolalla

Original Song: ``I Need to Wake Up'' from ``An Inconvenient Truth,'' Melissa Etheridge

Costume: ``Marie Antoinette''

Documentary Feature: ``An Inconvenient Truth''

Documentary Short Subject: ``The Blood of Yingzhou District''

Film Editing: ``The Departed''

Makeup: ``Pan's Labyrinth''

Animated Short Film: ``The Danish Poet''

Live Action Short Film: ``West Bank Story''

Visual Effects: ``Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest''

Jean Hersholt Award (Oscar statuette): Sherry Lansing.

Honorary Academy Award (Oscar statuette): Ennio Morricone.

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