I am unable to justify our exhilaration over Bombay Jayashri’s Oscar nomination for ‘Pi’s Lullaby’ in Life of Pi . The lullaby would have hardly gained such prominence had it been in a pure Indian context. We blame Bollywood for not producing “above the cut” movies. But its movies never meet our expectations because we are obsessed with the Oscars and Grammy’s. Regional art should excite us as much as international art. Let us follow the world but also make the world follow us. Nothing less will make us truly international.
Abhinandan Kalia,
Noida
It is good to hear that a Tamil lullaby written and sung by Carnatic music singer Bombay Jayashri has won an Oscar nomination. It is a proud moment for Tamilians even if the song has been inspired by 19th Century poet Irayimman Thampi’s Omana Thinkal Kidavo .
That in order to qualify for an Oscar nomination, international packaging is a requisite (“ >Our songs, their movies ,” Jan. 12) is unfortunate. The Oscar committee needs a reorientation in its outlook. Ilayaraja who composed many a lilting song for Tamil films could not catch the attention of the Oscar committee for the simple reason that he did not compose music for a foreign language film.
V.N. Gopal,
Chennai
