'Don't underestimate India's soft power'

Upbeat over the multiple Oscar feat of Slumdog Millionaire, Home Minister P Chidambaram said that it won't be "very long" for a movie made by an Indian to get global cinema's highest recognition.

Upbeat over the multiple Oscar feat of

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Slumdog Millionaire

, Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday said that it won't be "very long" for a movie made by an Indian to get global cinema's highest recognition.

Chidambaram, who was eloquent about India's "soft power, said the country of a billion people "adopted" Briton Danny Boyle's film as its own though it "may not be an Indian film".

Yesterday was a "red letter" day in the history of the country when Slumdog Millionaire won as many as eight Oscars with A R Rahman picking up two of them, he said.

Slumdog Millionaire may not be an Indian film. But a nation of billion people adopted it as an Indian film.

"How long it will take for an Indian film produced by an Indian and directed by an Indian director to bag the Oscar? It will not be very long," he said during the presentation ceremony of the National Tourism Awards here.

Warning against underestimating India's soft power, Chidambaram said India has a wide varieties to showcase its soft power which includes art, music, film and Bollywood among others.