BANGALORE: Breaking the path open for indie films made on small budgets, Geethu Mohandas's Hindi feature, Liar's Dice, has become India's entry in the Best Foreign Language Film category for the 2015 Oscars.
When asked what the implications of having a small-budget film like Liar's Dice getting into the Oscar race are, Geethu Mohandas, who directed the film, says, "I don't know honestly. It feels like anything could happen right now. It's certainly going to help smaller films come up, but isn't it more important that we focus on making good films? Just enjoy the process of making your film, and if these things come along, enjoy them. And if it doesn't, you'll still have the memories of working on a beautiful project."
Selected from among 30 entries, Liar's Dice beat the odds against films like Fandry and Apur Panchali. The 12 member jury was headed by the Malayalam film director T Hariharan. "I was overwhelmed when I got the news. I wanted to talk to my parents and husband immediately. But their phones were not reachable. So I sat by the phone waiting for the world to call me. And I've been busy ever since the phone started ringing," she says.
The film is about a young mother, Kamala (Geetanjali Thapa) and her three-year-old daughter who embark on a journey in search of Kamala's missing husband. Along this journey she encounters an army deserter (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) who decides to accompany them.
Mohandas admits that she's always been intrigued by the socio-political implications of migration and the government's apathy towards migrant labourers.
"I wanted to tell their story quite badly. These people are the nameless of India. The one common thing that Indians in all their diversity have is their social value system. Unfortunately, migrant labourers don’t even have that. In the era of globalisation, it is important to tell these stories too," she explains.
The socio-political conditions are the constant under current in the narration, however, this is also an unusual love story between two unlikely characters, she adds.