Why 'Court', India's official entry for the 2016 Oscars, is among the most important

[prasad1]

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The national-award winning Marathi film 'Court' has been chosen as India's official entry to the Oscars next year, in the Foreign Languages category. The movie had created quite a wave in the country and abroad. Here is why it is one of the most important films in the country today.


Directed by 28-year-old Chaitanya Tamhane, Court tells the story of an ageing folk musician and political activist who is accused by the state for causing the suicide of a manual scavenger through his 'inflammatory' songs. The movie subtly hits out at the government on its persecution of those who raise uncomfortable questions through laws like UAPA (the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act). It also throws light on the apathy of the administration and the society towards people of lower economic and social sections.


Tamhane tells an important story in a compelling manner, without jargons or gimmicks. He does away with the mainstream narrative and has what most would call an 'art-house' production and story telling. Despite this, the movie was hugely successful, critically and commercially.


Real people, real stories
Most of the film's cast, barring Vivek Gomber as defence lawyer Vinay Vora and Geetanjali Kulkarni as public prosecutor Nutan, are not actors. Vira Sathidar who plays the protagonist Narayan Kamble in the film, is a folk musician and political activist. The music composer, lyricist and singer is none other than Sambhaji Bhagat, Maharashtra's well known lok shahir.

http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainme...e-most-important-films-in-the-country-2128023

 

[P.J.]

Court | Theatrical Trailer (India)

Court | Theatrical Trailer (India)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhuQr4ZvZ9A



Published on Mar 23, 2015

Presenting the theatrical trailer of COURT

Debutant Tamhane’s film beat Rajkumar Hirani’s ‘PK’, Neeraj Ghyaywan’s Cannes winner ‘Masaan’, Omung Kumar’s ‘Mary Kom’, Vishal Bharadwaj’s ‘Haider’, M. Manikandan’s ‘Kaaka Muttai’ and SS Rajamouli’s ‘Bahubali’ in the Oscar race.


In his first reaction to the media, Tamhane, who is presently in Japan, said “At every juncture of the film’s journey, we have felt that it has given us more than we could ever imagine. Once again, this has come as a genuine surprise to both Vivek and me. Ever since we started making the film, we kept our expectations low. Especially in this case, since these results tend to be so unpredictable, it just felt like a wise thing to not expect too much. Now that it has actually happened, we would like to thank the jury for their decision and everyone who has supported the film so far.”


Tamhane’s ‘Court’, which narrates story of the trial of an ageing folk singer accused of performing an inflammatory song that may have incited a sewage worker to commit suicide in a manhole to expose the flaws of the Indian judicial system, has had a fascinating year, travelling to 19 national and international film festivals and picking up 16 awards.


The film won two coveted awards - the Horizons award for Best Film which carries a 100,000 $ cash prize and the Lion of the Future award for a Debut Film - at the Venice International Film festival in 2014 among others. It was picked up by New York-based Zeitgeist Films, known for sensing the next big film-making talent in the world, for distribution in the US.


‘Court’ is the third Marathi film after Sandeep Sawant’s Shwaas (Breath) in 2004, and Paresh Mokashi’s Harishchandrachi Factory (Harischandra’s Factory) made on the life of Dadasaheb Phalke in 2009 to be selected as India’s entry to the Academy Awards.

http://www.thehindu.com/entertainme...ndias-entry-to-oscars-2016/article7681492.ece

 

[krish44]

Would love to see the film if released in india