New Delhi: India’s last hope at the Oscars, DAM 999 is out of the race for nominations at the 84th Academy awards.
A UAE-Indian co-production produced by BizTV Network, UAE, DAM 999, directed by Sohan Roy, is based on the award winning short documentary DAMs – The Lethal Water Bombs and the Banqiao dam disaster of 1975 that claimed the lives of 250,000 people in China and anticipated calamity for outdated dams in the world.
Though the movie was not in contention for the foreign language film, DAM 999, being a joint UAE Indian co production was among 265 films that were contending for the best picture nomination at the Oscars.
It was competing against Hollywood blockbusters like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Thor, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.
Further, three of its songs – Dakkanaga Dugu Dugu, DAM999 Theme Song and Mujhe Chhod Ke – were among the 39 shortlisted for nominations in the original song category.
The film was also in the running for a nomination in the original score category. However, ‘Dam 999’ does not figure in the list of Oscar nominees announced in Los Angeles last night.
The film, which has evoked controversy in India due to its showing the Mullaperiar dam in poor light, has won lot of critical acclaim in India and abroad. The Screenplay of the movie was added to the permanent core collection in Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences before its release in 2011.
As per the Oscars nominations list, those contending in the best picture category include – The Artist, The escendants, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life and War Horse’.
Earlier this month, India’s official entry to the Oscars, the Malayalam film Abu Son Of Adam (‘ADAMANTE MAKAN ABU’) by Salim Ahmed, had failed to make it in the short list of nine films in the 84th Academy Awards foreign language category.
There had been 63 entries this year for the Best foreign language film category at Oscars. The nominations were announced at the Sameul Goldwyn Theatre in Los Angeles.
The Oscars will be presented on Feb 26. (UNI)