Bharati Dubey

Aamir Khan is pulling out all the stops. His maiden production, Lagaan, is India's official entry to the Oscars, and he plans to ensure that the film makes it to the top five.

"I don't know if Lagaan was my best performance," he says, quipping, "Why don't you tell me if it is?"

Aamir still wants nothing to do with popular awards. Never mind if Lagaan is bound to sweep them all way. "I haven't changed my mind about them," he says, adamantly. "But I don't believe in forcing my opinions on others. What I think is not applicable to other members of my crew."

The 74th Annual Academy Awards are another affair altogether. Aamir's plans go thus: "We have just hired a publicist to help us generate hype for Lagaan in the media. We shall advertise in all their trade papers and film magazines -- Hollywood Reporter, Variety, we will do them all. We need to create an awareness about Lagaan among members of the Academy.

"You see, the Academy holds only one screening of the film, which will be held some time towards the end of January. But we have scheduled 15 additional screenings of the film at private theatres across the country. A list of these theatres will be handed over to the Academy, so that members can attend the show. Not all members will be free on the same day, so we wanted them to be notified in advance."

There are no immediate plans to re-release Lagaan in the US. Aamir points out, "Essentially, my priority is to address the committee that selects the five nominations in the category of foreign films. That committee comprises 300 people who will eventually vote for the final five. We have to make sure those 300 people see Lagaan.

He is confident that the going will not be very tough for Lagaan: "Our film has managed to make that crossover, to a certain extent. That was because Columbia Tristar acquired the rights to release the film in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Scandanvia and Finland.

"All this happened after one single screening of Lagaan at the Locarno Festival, where about 8,000 people watched it. We got such an amazing response from audience members of France, Italy, Germany and Switzerland. For the first time, an Indian mainstream film was released in Europe.

"If the members see the film then I am very hopeful. The trick is to get them to watch the film. The members of the Academy don't have to watch all the films. There are 54 films vying for the top five spots. Each member must see 80 per cent of them to be eligible to vote. Which may mean that 20 per cent may not choose to see Lagaan.

"When I went to US last month to gauge the preliminary reactions to the film, some of the members told me that since the previous films that were sent to the Oscars were not upto the mark, chances were that most members would not want to watch Lagaan.

"That's what I'm most afraid of," admits Aamir. "I'm trying to get them to say 'You must not miss this film'. If I manage to get them to see it, then I am very confident."