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LOS ANGELES, FEBRUARY 26: 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. |