Controversies....

India loves its controversies. The latest ones are of course Sourav vs Greg, and more to the point of this post, Paheli vs Black.
When I heard of Paheli being India's entry for the Oscars, I did initially feel that pehaps Black would have been a better choice. But the more I thought about it, I realised that although I enjoyed both films immensely, Paheli did seem like a better choice as India's choice for the Oscars, rather than the heavily anglicised Black. Incredibly this morning, I read a much better article which puts forth Paheli's case. here are excerpts, followed by the link to the article :

"First things first, the two films being debated upon have quite a bit in common: Both feature the masterful cinematography of Ravi K Chandran; both highlight their sensational leading lady, Rani Mukerji; and both are undeniably works of extreme directorial self-indulgence.

But the difference lies in that very fact. Amol Palekar's bright abandon in Paheli leads to a languorously unhurried fairytale, a unique love story told without fuss. On the other hand, Sanjay Leela Bhansali trips the light narcissistic with his mega-budget Black to emerge with a half-baked, often derivative and crucially flawed film."

"if Black was set in the local marketplace, and you'd have seen Rani stumbling around in Lokhandwala (a northwest Mumbai area), it would have been a lot more effective. Indeed."

Read the full article here.