MUMBAI: For several days now, murmurs of dissent and a steady backlash has been building against India’s official entry to the Oscars, ‘The Good Road’. However, Gyan Correa, director of the Gujarati National Award winning film, speaks out in support of his feature.
Speaking about the fact that it is extremely unfair for people who have not seen the film to criticise it, Correa said, “I am new to all this and I really don’t know how to deal with this whole unsavoury controversy. I feel the film that I have made, has merit. Otherwise it wouldn’t have been selected for the Oscars. People who hadn’t heard of the film let alone seen it, are criticising it. That is unfair.”
Reacting to the intense negative opinions from within the industry, on his film being chosen over Ritesh Batra’s much-appreciated ‘The Lunchbox’, Correa stated: “Some people seem quite upset by the decision. I am hoping they will stop being upset in a while. They are seasoned people and have been around long enough. Running down my film won’t help other films!”
Correa even went as far as saying that both his film and ‘The Lunchbox’ are like siblings.
“I am going to see it (‘The Lunchbox’) as soon as possible. ‘The Lunchbox’ and ‘The Good Road’ are siblings. They’ve both come out of the NFDC route in different ways. So both films have originated from the same foundation where good cinema is fostered. The real story is that the NFDC which once used to nurture meaningful cinema is back in business,” he said.
Gyan maintained that he respects the Oscar selection’s committee, which chose his film over ‘The Lunchbox’.
“I didn’t select the film (for the Oscars). A committee that knows its job did the selection. I respect the jury and I feel every other filmmaker should,” said Correa, adding: “Now that ‘The Good Road’ has been selected, the film fraternity should support it.”
Touching upon the long road ahead, where his team will have to lobby for the Oscars, Correa admitted: “I’ve to meet my producers (the NFDC) and discuss our strategy. We have a plan. Raising resources for our struggle in LA is not an easy job.”
