Marathi film Tingya going to the Oscars

Tingya a Marathi film had lost to Taare Zameen Par by a close inch in the run for the Oscars. However, Ravi Rai and his company Small Town Boy Productions have decided to send it to the Oscars as an independent entry.

Tingya directed by Mangesh Hadawale is an emotional story of love between a boy and a bull, which is set in the milieu of Maharashtra's agrarian crisis. The film has won several accolades both nationally and internationally. Tingya was apparently rejected by almost 42 producers but has bagged about 37 awards globally, which in itself is a huge achievement for producer Ravi Rai.

In spite of not being nominated as the official entry into the foreign language category for the Oscars, Ravi Rai has no grudge and feels no resentment towards the jury. Taare Zameen Par happens to be among Rai's favourite movies. Apparently, Taare Zameen Par and Tingya were very close in competition. The jury discussed and debated over the film's every valid point even the child artistes for nearly 2 hours. But Tingya lost on the basis of technical finesse, which is bound to differ when a 27 Lakh and 50 Crore budget movie is compared.

Besides Taare Zameen Par and Tingya the other films in discussion for selection were Marathi film Valu, Nishikant Kamat's Mumbai Meri Jaan, Neeraj Pandey's A Wednesday, Ashutosh Gowarikar's Jodhaa Akbar, Farhan Akhtar's Rock On, Subhash Ghai's Black and White and the Telugu film Ghanyam.