Pursuits: What is it that makes the Oscars so special?

I assume that, along with the rest of the English-speaking world, you saw the telecast of the Oscars at the

end of February. Even if you didn’t catch the whole telecast, you probably saw clips from the ceremony on various news channels. Or, at the very least, you

read about this year’s Oscars. So, did it strike you then? What is it that makes the Oscars so special? Consider other awards. The Emmys don’t mean very much outside of America. The Grammys earn their popularity from the musical performances that are the highlight of the show. At other awards ceremonies – the Golden Globes, the SAG awards or the Baftas, for instance – we watch because of the glamour generated by a gathering of major movie stars. But we never remember who won any of the awards.

 

   The Oscars are different, though. There was a time when they were full of musical performances – somebody would sing each of the songs nominated for best original song. But now, the performances have been largely dispensed with and when musicians do appear, they tend to be side men. (Could you figure out what A.R. Rahman was doing at this year’s show? Me neither.)

 

   The Oscars are only about the awards. Two stars come on stage. A list of nominations is unfurled. Another star comes on stage to accept his or her award, makes a short acceptance speech and then disappears backstage.

 

   And that’s it.

 

   There is no razzmatazz, no large budget entertainment quotient. Just a simple presentation.

 

   Despite this, the Oscars are among the most viewed television programmes in the world. What’s more, we actually remember who won what. The winners make headline news in every country in the world the following day. Oscar-winning movies are either re-released or, if they are already in the cinemas, see a huge jump in their revenues. Actors or actresses who have won Oscars immediately raise their going price and know that they will never have to struggle to find work again.

 

   To understand just how special the Oscars are, think of Hollywood’s rival for the title of the world’s biggest film industry: Bollywood.

 

   The Indian film industry has a plethora of award ceremonies. It even has its own Oscar-style Academy which gives out official awards. But these, in fact, are the least-known awards. Instead, those that count are the awards handed out by film publications: the Filmfare awards, the Screen awards, the Stardust awards, etc. Then, there are independent awards such as the IIFA awards, which travel from country to country every year. Zee TV has its own travelling award show. And the central government also makes a contribution with a national award which has been in the past, the subject of numerous lawsuits and controversies.

 

   Two things distinguish the Indian awards from the Oscars. First of all, nobody watches any of the award ceremonies for the actual presentation. They watch them for the performances. Even the telecast focuses on tawdry drama. So, each time Amitabh Bachchan goes on stage, they cut to a shot of Rekha in the audience. And these days, any appearance by Shah Rukh Khan is certain to be followed by reaction shots of Priyanka Chopra. Because Indian award ceremonies are usually not telecast live, unlike the Oscars, the producers have a lot of time to play around with the footage. So, the reaction shots are not always genuine. Rekha might have been glowering during some other part of the evening but the producers will insert that shot as a supposed reaction to Amitabh’s appearance on the stage.

 

"Say what you will about the Oscars. But they are still the only award ceremony in the world where the award is more important than the entertainment."

   The second thing that distinguishes Indian award ceremonies from the Oscars is that frankly, nobody really cares who wins. You can probably tell me who won last year’s Oscar for best actor. But can you tell me who won the best actor award from Screen, Stardust, Filmfare, Zee, Star or IIFA?

 

   At some level, Indians know that the award ceremonies are not serious celebrations of talent and merit. They are supposed to be tamashas and we treat them as such. Some stars – Aamir Khan, most famously – refuse to turn up for these ceremonies, arguing that the awards are rigged. And certainly, at many award functions, you do get the sense that every star who bothers to turn up goes home with an award of some description. (When Hollywood stars refuse to come to the Oscars, it is not because they think that the awards are fixed, but disapprove of the principle. George C. Scott did not turn up to collect his Oscar for Patton because he called the ceremony ‘a goddamn meat parade’.)

 

   Ironically, in recent years, the Oscars have been less fair than before. Of course, the Academy has frequently made the wrong decision, needlessly snubbing such directors as Martin Scorcese and Steven Spielberg for years. But these have been honest mistakes.

 

   Now, however, the build-up to the voting for the Oscars is accompanied by furious lobbying and huge publicity campaigns directed at the Academy’s members who constitute the electorate for the awards. The Weinstein brothers invented the modern Oscar campaign when they ran Miramax Pictures. Because these campaigns worked, earning Miramax many undeserved Oscars, other studios have followed suit.  Years ago, it was believed that The English Patient (remember that film?) won its Oscars on the strength of a lobbying campaign.

 

   This year, all of Hollywood predicted that The Artist would sweep the awards because of the huge Oscar campaign that had been launched on its behalf. Hollywood was right: The Artist duly scooped up best actor, best director and best picture.

 

   I won’t comment on the merits of The Artist vs other movies in the running but I will say that it was a complete and utter scandal that George Clooney did not win the best actor award for his brilliant and understated performance in The Descendents where he played against type. But Clooney has too much dignity to lobby. And so, he lost the award in the final minutes of the Oscar ceremony.

 

   Still, these are minor quibbles. Say what you will about the Oscars. But they are still the only award ceremony in the world where the award is more important than the entertainment. And that alone counts for something.