The Indian film Sardar Udham was ruled out as the country’s entry for the Oscars, with one jury member saying it ‘projects hatred towards the British’.
Shoojit Sircar directed the film, which follows the life of freedom fighter Sardar Udham Singh.
In 1940, Udham Singh assassinated Michael O’Dwyer, the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab, British India, in London to avenge the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar.
Composer Indraadip Dasgupta told the Times of India (via the Independent): ‘Sardar Udham is a little lengthy and harps on the Jallianwala Bagh incident.
‘It is an honest effort to make a lavish film on an unsung hero of the Indian freedom struggle. But in the process, it again projects our hatred towards the British. In this era of globalisation, it is not fair to hold on to this hatred.’
Production designer Sumit Basu added: ‘I thought the length of the film was an issue. It has a delayed climax. It takes a lot of time for a viewer to feel the real pain for the martyrs of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.’
However, plenty have been left unimpressed by the choice.
One fan of the film wrote: ‘#SardarUdham was rejected for Oscar nomination by an “Indian” stating it has “too much hatred for British”.This film had hatred for imperialism but not for any particular race.This film was about FREEDOM and how far our revolutionaries went on,and this is what we give in return?’
Another added: ‘So Sardar Udham was rejected for Oscar nomination because “the movie projects too much hatred against the British.” The jury member should watch ‘The Battle of Algiers’ (1966), which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and was nominated for three Academy Awards.’
‘Just read why Sardar Udham was not sent to Oscars. the reasons are low quality and infuriating at the same time,’ one more said.
Instead, the film Koozhangal has been submitted.
India has submitted films to the Academy Awards since 1957 for the category best international feature film (formerly best foreign language film).
Since 1984, India has only not submitted a film on one occasion, in 2003, when the Film Federation of India felt that no film would be in a position to compete with the films from other nations.
Three submissions have been nominated so far.
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