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Is Oscar magic fading?
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The Oscars night no longer casts its spell. Or does it? Let’s find out
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Poised to win Marion Cotillard, winner of the Best Actress award, walks the red carpet
Then there would be an Oscar night in the city. A gaggle of friends would crowd around the TV set following either Billy Crystal or Whoopi Goldberg or the other smart-alec emcee held stage and the Hollywood swish set passed around the statuettes to c
reate legends. All this for a differed telecast on ‘Derdarshan’ just before the exams (till 2002, the awards night was in late March or early April). Cut to 2008, Feb 24, and the Monday morning questions were: ‘Are the Oscars over? Who won? The more knowledgeable; Who are the Coen brothers?’
Oh! The Oscar are over and a movie called No Country for Old Men made most of the night. Missed the action? Follow the pack, and see the youtube videos and entertainment news URLs.
Is that what Oscars are all about now?
Missing flavour
“I think the interest in the ceremony is directly related to the movies that are nominated. In India the interest peaked when Titanic was nominated and also when Lord of the Rings was the front runner. This year, none of the movies that were nominated for a large number of awards had a widespread release in India. So, of course no one really cares,” says Mayur Shetty, who works in an infotech firm.
Even the corny marketing line for movies: In the race for Oscars doesn’t mean much. Not a single movie showing in the city has that tagline.
Mahi, a research scholar says: “Oscars are considered the be-all and end-all of all movie awards. Earlier, I would be glued to the TV excitedly watching the stars walk down the red carpet and anxiously waiting to hear the five magical words: `And the Oscar goes to…’ However, this year, it was a big let down. There was no representation from the sub-continent. And, except for George Clooney, the other Oscar nominees are unknown. So, there was not much enthusiasm.”
Having a different take on the awards is Bennet Abraham: “When Steven Spielberg was awarded the Best Director’s trophy for his drama Schindler’s List, he dedicated it to the six million Jews who weren’t around to watch it, and also to the one billion, around the world, who were watching it. Oscar’s is the biggest award night. Period. Every other award show pales in comparison, and the so called shows we have back home are just poor mimics. This being said, the audience interest in the night, has only gone up over the years. Its importance is paramount, and this can be derived by the fact that the Writers Guild of America ended its strike because the Studios relented to their demands just so they can have a proper awards night. In India, because of the show timings, many people may not be able to catch it live, but viewers definitely try and catch reruns. You can also notice a sharp rise in DVD/Ticket sales of movies that have won or have been nominated for the award. Even this year, there were more than a billion people watching it ‘live’, and many others are going to end up watching reruns and recorded relays. The interest in Oscars will never decline!”
Ishana, a law student too believes the Oscars magic is not fading: “Oscars have always created frenzy among the movie-buffs. Even the mightiest of the stars keep their fingers crossed to win the coveted golden statuette. I don’t think the Academy Awards have lost their magic. We have always loved watching stars at the award functions. Oscars will always continue to woo the serious cinema lovers.”
For the records this year’s awards night were the least watched with just 32 million US viewers tuning in. In contrast over 55 million Americans tuned in 1998 when Titanic swept the awards.
SERISH NANISETTI & NEERAJA MURTY
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