May Bombay win Oscars

Like 2012 Anil Ambani is most likely to be present at the Oscar gala this year as well After all Reliance Entertainment is one of the three studios behind the muchacclaimed Daniel DayLewis starrer Lincoln However the billionaire industrialist wonrsquot be winning any statuette even if the biopic makes the most of its 12 nominations Similarly Anupam Kher is playing a small but significant role in Silver Linings Playbook mdash which has garnered eight nods These developments make Bombay Jayashri the only nominated Indian at the Academy Awards this time around Bombay Jayashri sung the Tamil track Pirsquos Lullaby in the Oscarnominated Life Of Pi and penned the lyrics too File Photo ldquoWhen I first heard the news I couldnrsquot believe itrdquo says the Carnatic exponent She has been conominated mdash along with Mychael Danna mdash for Pirsquos Lullaby in Life of Pi under the Original Song category She has not only sung the Tamil track but also penned the lyrics According to Danna it was director Ang Leersquos idea to use the soothing number at the very beginning of their 3D film ldquoHe wanted to convey the tone right from the very first scene itself The voice is magical and transcends the need to understand those spoken wordsrdquo adds the Canadian musician Pirsquos Lullaby might have helped Jayashri get noticed on the global scale the Chennaibased vocalist has been active on the classical front for more than three decades now On Monday morning shersquoll be up against several bigwigs from the world of music The other contenders vying for the trophy include Skyfall from Skyfall Adele and Paul Epworth Before My Time from Chasing Ice J Ralph Everybody Needs a Best Friend from Ted Walter Murphy and Seth MacFarlane and Suddenly from Les Miserables ClaudeMichel Schonberg Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil u00a0Shankar Mahadevan Interestingly she has sung just two songs for Bollywood films so far mdash Zara Zara Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein and Chahoon Bhi Toh Force And this numerical reluctance is evident in Kailash Kherrsquos assessment as well ldquoIrsquom not really aware of her work Having said that Irsquom glad for her because itrsquos a huge honour This nomination also begs an important question how much really is the western world aware of us There is so much to offer and exchange Lullaby is just a glimpse of the rich treasure that lies hererdquo points out the Sufifolk crooner Tomorrow at Kodak Theatre shersquoll be rubbing shoulders with some of the biggest names in showbiz from across the world For someone who has collaborated with international artistes before her rooted background has only proved an admirable advantage At least thatrsquos what Pankaj Udhas observes ldquoThanks to access and opportunities there are qualified as well as unqualified musicians performing nowadays Jayashri clearly belongs to the former category and thatrsquos what makes this recognition sweeter Given her classical backdrop Irsquod be very happy if she manages to bag the awardrdquo adds the ghazal singer Those who made it and didnrsquot Over the years the Academy has somehow mostly shied away from Indian cinema Except these few instances listed below Mehboob Khanrsquos Mother India 1957 was the first Indian film to be nominated Vidhu Vinod Choprarsquos An Encounter with Faces 1979 got the nod for Docu Short Bhanu Athaiya became the first Indian to win an Oscar for Best Costume Design in Gandhi 1982 In 1988 Salaam Bombay became the second Indian film to be nominated Satyajit Ray received the Lifetime Achievement with Audrey Hepburn personally handing him the award Lagaan 2001 came the closest to bagging one In 2004 Ashvin Kumarrsquos Little Terrorist earned Live Action Short Film nod AR Rahman Gulzar and Resul Pookutty won for Slumdog Millionaire 2008 Smile Pinki 2008 made in Hindi and Bhojpuri won Best Documentary Shortu00a0