Should Bollywood learn from the Golden Globes?

Meritorious rewarding at the Golden Globe Awards gets desi film industry wondering why they can’t do it fair. Hollywood actor-filmmaker Ben Affleck’s big win has inspired some soul-searching in Bollywood.

Meritorious rewarding at the Golden Globe Awards gets desi film industry wondering why they can’t do it fair.

Hollywood actor-filmmaker Ben Affleck’s big win at the 70th Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday has inspired some soul-searching in Bollywood.

Affleck, who was snubbed by the Academy in the directing category when the Oscar nominations were announced, scored a double victory at the Globes — best movie drama and best director for Argo — beating Steven Spielberg who made Lincoln. British actor Daniel Day-Lewis, who plays Abraham Lincoln, got the only win for the movie despite it having 12 Oscar nominations. This, even as The Golden Globes are seen as a precursor to the Oscars.

Back home, filmmaker Karan Johar made a point when he tweeted after the Globes that Bollywood should take a cue and fix its awarding ways. Argo wins best picture at the #GoldenGlobe. Thank god ... there is justice in the world....so much better than some of the nominated sedatives. Is is then us as an industry to blame for not showing grace, elegance or genuine reverence at an awards night in our land??? , he wrote. A few days ago, filmmaker Sanjay Gupta, too, had questioned the credibility of our award functions. TV telecasts of award shows has actually taken away from true and deserving talent. Picture mein star hai? Naachega? Toh award milega. WTF, he said. In the same vein, stars such as Aamir Khan, Emraan Hashmi and Ajay Devgn have stayed away from award functions.We question the credibility of our awards primarily because there is this mindset that award shows are rigged and star performers end up picking the trophy. That is not true for all award shows though. The process needs to be more transparent, says filmmaker Kunal Kohli. Director Alankrita Srivastava says, Award ceremonies in India definitely need to reflect on the kind of films they should be applauding. Awards will remain relevant only if they are fair.