Five reasons why #Court was the right pick for the Oscars

Hit on the international film festival circuit

Court made a big, lasting impression on its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival winning the Orrizonti Award for Best Film and the Lion of the Future, award for a debut film. From there on it has just gone on to wow audiences and jury members all over. There's the best film and best director award at the Mumbai Film Festival, followed by validation from the jury of the National Film Awards with the best film prize. There's also best debut at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, best film at the Minsk Film Festival Listapad and Auteur Film Festival; New Talent award at the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival and best cinematography and script at the 2Morrow International Film Festival; best director and film at the Singapore International Film Festival, jury special mention at the Molodist International Film Festival. Apart from that it was selected for the prestigious New Directors/New Films Festival at the Museum of Modern Art and Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York. These are just a few accolades in the kitty of writer-director Chaitanya Tamhane and producer Vivek Gomber.

Presents India as it is

There is no exotic India on view here. Nobody breaks into a song-dance routine. The only songs you hear are the protest ones recited by the key character, an ageing folk singer and Dalit rights activist Narayan Kamble (Vira Sathidar). Court stays true to its name and focuses on the case of Kamble, who is accused of singing and writing a song which drives a sewage worker to kill himself. The court here is not a stage set for a high-pitched legal battle. Instead it is a place where ordinary people arrive hoping for justice and patiently wait for resolution of cases long pending.

There is an attack on the lackadaisical ways of the Indian judicial system but it is done in the subtlest, methodical and clever ways. Just when the environs of a court become claustrophobic, depressing and uninspiring, which is entirely Tamhane's intention, he steps outside to look at the lives of the other three key participants - the prosecutor (Geetanjali Kulkarni), judge (Pradeep Joshi) and advocate (Vivek Gomber). It's at such moments that the film scores a bull's eye in making a film that is both compelling and engaging.  

Indian independent cinema at its best

More than anything else, Court is a bloody good film. Theatre actor Gomber stepped in to put in his own money to help his friend, Tamhane, make the film he wanted to make, especially after many producers bailed on Court. This is an independent effort in the truest sense because it didn't rely on the support of any celebrity filmmaker to get a theatrical release or have multiple screenings with stars in attendance heaping praise on it on social media platform. The small film has now got a shot at the biggest summit - the Academy Awards aka the Oscars - entirely on its own merit.

Arrival of a refreshing new voice in Chaitanya Tamhane

It's hard to believe that Court is the handiwork of a debutant filmmaker given the assuredness with which Chaitanya Tamhane has directed it. Fully in control of the proceedings, Tamhane engrosses viewers with the mundane, believable nature of the legal proceedings and his attention to detail, and simultaneously frustrates them with the sluggish pace at which the case unfolds. That he has a sense of humour which arrives at the most unexpected moments is further proof of his talent. Tamhane wants viewers to know that reality bites and is often dull. He succeeds.

Theatrical release in the US

The biggest challenge that Court faces now is that it gets seen by the members of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), who vote for the Oscars and who may have missed seeing it when it released in July. But the very fact that Court released in US and earned unanimous critical acclaim certainly helps its chances. In case it fails to lure the voters to the screenings which will take place from October to mid-December, one hopes that the Foreign Language Film Award Executive Committee steps in to ensure that it makes the nine-film shortlist. Ultimately only five films will make the cut when the nominations are announced on Jan 14. Let's hope that Court is one of the contenders because it has the necessary ingredients which give it a shot at the Oscar statuette.