Peepli Live is the official entry from India for next year’s Oscars. And we can only be thankful that sense prevailed and a film that truly warmed the cockles of our heart was selected. But at a time when marketing can make or break a situation, this is something even Danny Boyle would agree, as his bumper win for Slumdog Millionaire in 2008 was credited as much to the film as to knocking on the right doors.
And that’s something Peepli Live can certainly take a leaf from. Though this will be producer Aamir Khan’s third trip to the Oscars, post Lagaan in 2001 and Taare Zameen Par in 2008, and as director Jug Mundhra, who has the socially relevant, Aishwarya Rai starrer, Provoked to his credit, puts it, “Aamir knows what it takes to promote a film at the Oscars. He learnt the ropes with Lagaan, practised them on TZP and now has the opportunity to perfect them with Peepli.”
He adds that lots of trade ads, screenings for academy members and plenty of PR will be required. “Aamir certainly has the attitude, clout and budget to give it a fair shot,” he says.
Though Bollywood has made a strong presence in the post Slumdog era, with song and dance sequences and costumes being a big hit in Hollywood, convincing the jury still remains a slippery slope filled with publicists, multiple screenings, campaigning and intense lobbying. National award winning, Parzania director Rahul Dholakia says that the only way to get a film nominated is when the jury members like it. “It’s unfortunately an uphill task for Peepli as it did not make waves at the Sundance or Toronto film festivals. Maybe they could get some big stars in Hollywood to create the much needed hype,” he says. However, trade analyst Taran Adarsh believes a film scores solely on its merit and at a platform as big as this, it’s the content of the film that matters. “There is world cinema exhibited at that stage and the film needs to be really good, which this time it is. A solid two-three months devoted solely for the film’s publicity by Aamir, should work,” he says.