By RAMOLA TALWAR BADAM
MUMBAI, India — India may be forced to withdraw its Oscar entry in the foreign film category because of alleged bias in the selection process.
‘‘Maybe there will be no film from India,’’ Vinod Pandey, chairman of the Film Federation of India, said today. ‘‘Anything is possible. We can reaffirm our choice, send another or maybe India would retire this year.’’
The Bombay High Court has asked the federation to respond to a lawsuit challenging the selection of well-known filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s ‘‘Eklavya: The Royal Guard.’’ ...
First-time director Bhavna Talwar filed a petition claiming one panelist on the 11-member jury had edited a promotional short film for ‘‘Eklavya,’’ and that two other jury members were also close to Chopra.
Talwar’s ‘‘Dharm’’ was passed over for ‘‘Eklavya,’’ a thriller starring Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan.
Pandey acknowledged irregularities in the process.
‘‘I cannot be proud about the methodology and the dynamics of selection,’’ he said.
Two of Chopra’s earlier films were selected to represent India at the Academy Awards.
The court will decide whether ‘‘Eklavya’’ has to be withdrawn, which would throw the nomination process into disarray. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which usually narrows down submissions to five foreign film nominees, said India had to submit a final entry by Wednesday.
AP
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