5 lesser-known Indian films that have received Academy Award nominations/wins
The Academy Award 2022 nominations were announced on Tuesday and Jai Bhim sadly could not grab nomination under any category. Till now, we know of only three Indian films— Mother India, Salaam Bombay! and Lagaan— receiving nods in the Best International Feature Film category at the Oscars. But, there are also some lesser-known Indian films that have Oscar nominations/wins. We list the top five.
Writing with Fire, a documentary directed by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh, has been nominated in the Documentary Feature category of the Oscars 2022. The other nominees are Ascension, Attica, Flee, and Summer of Soul. The documentary is about Khabar Lahariya, a newspaper based out of the Bundelkhand region, which is run by Dalit women. It also won awards at the Sundance Film Festival.
The White Tiger, starring Priyanka Chopra, Rajkummar Rao, and Adarsh Gourav, was nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay at last year's Oscars. Though it lost to The Father, it was a remarkable feat. The White Tiger is based on a novel by the same name, written by Aravind Adiga. The film was directed by Ramin Bahrani, who also had written the screenplay.
At the 77th Academy Awards, Little Terrorist was nominated for Best Live Action Short Film. Released in 2004, the short was directed by Ashvin Kumar, son of renowned designer Ritu Kumar. It revolves around Pakistani Muslim boy Jamal, who mistakenly crosses the border while fetching a ball. He becomes friends with Bhola, a Hindu boy. The repercussions of their friendship form the film's crux.
Smile Pinki is a documentary that was given the Best Documentary (Short Subject) trophy at the 81st Academy Award. Helmed and produced by Meghan Mylan, the 39-minute-long film revolves around Pinki Sonkar a six-year-old girl, who has cleft lip. She meets a social worker, who arranges for a surgery to get the deformity corrected. The documentary was made in Bhojpuri and Hindi.
Before Vidhu Vinod Chopra became a noted director of Bollywood, he had made a documentary named An Encounter with Faces. The 1978 short had received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary (Short Subject) at the 51st Academy Award. Backed by KK Kapil, the film won at the Tampere Film Festival under the Grand Prix category. It is available on YouTube.
