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Bridging the celluloid divide in style

It certainly has all the right "rang''. Bridging the celluloid divide, "Rang De Basanti" has recently been nominated for the British Academy of Film & Television Arts (BAFTA) awards.

A cult film, it may have managed to make a mark in India for reasons other than just "filmi''. But now with the BAFTA nomination it might be all set to make history.

The film being the official Indian entry to the Oscars also, its stars will have plenty of globetrotting and star-studded events to attend in the coming months.

Nominated for the "Film Not In English Language" category, "Rang De Basanti'' will be up against Mel Gibson's "Apocalypto" -- a film that broke a few British box-office records. The other movies that are competing with Rang De Basanti are "Black Book", "Pan's Labyrinth" and "Volver".

"Rang De Basanti has touched the hearts and minds of viewers across the world. This BAFTA nomination is yet another affirmation of the fact that Rang De Basanti is a film that transcends all boundaries of ethnicity and nationality and appeals to the basic humanity in all of us," says Ronnie Screwvala, CEO of UTV that produced the film.

This is not the first time that a "desi'' film has been nominated for BAFTA. "The Warrior'' directed by Asif Kapadia was nominated and won "The Best British Film Award'' beating another film with Indian links, "Bend It Like Beckham''.

However, "Devdas'' that was also nominated in the same category as "Rang De Basanti'' that year failed to make a mark at the award ceremony. While Aamir Khan may have better luck than Shah Rukh Khan and Sanjay Leela Bhansali did with "Devdas'', "Rang De Basanti hopefully may be able to win the judges over for the reason it was popular for in India -- its youth quotient. -- Mandira Nayar

-- Mandira Nayar

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