Eklavya’s selection for Oscars biased: HC

Terming the selection of Eklavya - The Royal Guard as India’s entry to the Oscars as ‘prima facie biased’, the Bombay High Court on Saturday issued notices to Film Federation of India and others.

Hearing a petition filed by director of Dharm , Bhavana Talwar, challenging the selection of Eklavya the High Court has asked Film Federation of India- which selects the Indian entry- and other respondents to file reply by October 10.

Division bench of Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice Dhananjay Chandrachud noted that prima facie the selection looked biased.

Petition has been filed by Talwar, director of film Dharm , and its producer WSG Pictures. Dharm , which has Pankaj Kapur as the protagonist, lost out to Eklavya when FFI decided to send Eklavya , produced and directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, for Academy Awards on September 24.

Talwar’s main contention is that jury that selected Eklavya had some members allegedly close to Chopra, so the selection could not have been fair.

Agency