Mumbai, Oct 21 (NationPress) It has been over 112 years and counting for Indian cinema, yet we have not yet achieved an Oscar for any of our feature films. While there is optimism this time around with ‘Homebound’ being India’s official entry to the Academy Awards, filmmaker Kiran Rao believes that although the West may not harbor a conscious bias against Indian films, the perspective from which they view our cinema is notably different.

The director recently engaged in conversation with IANS, commemorating the success of her film ‘Laapataa Ladies’ at the Filmfare Awards, where it secured 13 awards.

When questioned about a potential bias held by the West towards India or its cinema, Kiran shared with IANS, “I don't know about a conscious bias. But I feel that for every country when they (the Academy) award a film, they look at it roughly through their own lens. And while there is an appreciation for Indian cinema, perhaps a lot of the time it just doesn't tick the boxes of many of the voters there. It's like almost trying to sort of convince people that they automatically may not gravitate to that kind of cinema.”

Kiran further articulated that India produces a diverse array of films, and she expressed her firm belief that eventually, India will create a film that will instill national pride by winning an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

She added, “I have great hopes for ‘Homebound’ this year. I think it's a fantastic choice of film to represent us. A film that could resonate with the voters. I think it’s also about understanding the entire ecosystem surrounding the Oscars. To connect with that, we need to grasp the intricacies of distribution and how films navigate the Oscar process. Typically, we create films for our audience, focusing on the themes and issues we find significant.”

“I believe that someday this convergence will occur. However, in general, I feel that awards will only come with genuine recognition from the audience that is watching your film. For example, we received an Academy Award from an International Academy in Japan, which was unexpected yet delightful, indicating that your film might not be the biggest commercial success there, but it gained appreciation. Hence, I don’t think that awards will always mirror the audience's sentiments; it's a mix of factors. Nonetheless, I do believe that the day is not far off,” she concluded.