/> Check this out. No Indian film except Sanjay Bhansali's Devdas has ever wangled this honour. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Rang De Basanti (RDB), now a year old, gets bigger by the day.

On Friday it got itself an ultra-prestigious BAFTA (British Academy Of Film & Television Arts) nomination in the 'Film Not In The English Language' category.

"Have you seen the other nominations?" the excited director can hardly contain his pride. "RDB shares the list with Mel Gibson's Apocalypto and Pedro Almodovar's Volver. We're in excellent company. I spoke to A.R Rahman in Toronto. He was thrilled. The entire team is over the moon. In fact we're putting together a documentary on RDB where Rahman says RDB has changed his career."

No Indian film has been nominated in this category. "BAFTA held screenings of the film in LA, New York and London. I attended those screenings, and also the extremely enlightening QA sessions after the screenings. The theatres would be full.

We kept talking until 1.30 am. I was amazed. In India we'd have gone home. Just goes to show, distances are being bridged not just in the corporate world but also in the entertainment business. The thing about BAFTA is, it's the European counterpart of the Oscars. The Europeans take this award very seriously."

Rakeysh is sill receiving congratulatory calls. "People in London who informed me said it was a huge honour for Indian cinema. The foreign-film category is hugely competitive. How do I explain the endless run of RDB?

I think the emotions there are very basic. In the US and UK, non-Asians parents have come to me to say that the aimlessness of the young out there is the same as out here. The politics is different. The emotions are the same. Evety culture places its own ethnicity in RDB and connects very simply."

On 11 February Rakeysh is going to be in London for BAFTA with the entire RDB team.. However the bifurcation of the Best Film and Best Director awards in some of the Indian popular awards, with only one-half going to RDB, has exasperated Rakeysh Mehra.

"They've 90 categories, Somewhere you can see the awards being politicized. Okay, I don't mind if I don't get Best Director. But how can RDB not be awarded for editing, or lyrics??? The lyrics have given the film a poetic perspective.

Popular awards are being given out to balance the picture. If a film is good, embrace it, please. By sheer mathematics, if RDB gets maximum nominations, it should equal to BEST FILM.

I'm not annoyed, only amused. Indian cinema is changing. So should the awards. But ...RDB is representing India at the Oscars and BAFTA. So I'm not complaining."

On a brighter note, what will Rakeysh be wearing at BAFTA? "Anything from my wardrobe, yaar! Are you suggesting a designer? No way. I haven't budgeted for that kind of extravagance."

On Jan 26 Rang De Basanti gets re-released in India. "It's just twenty-five prints. To watch it being watched again would be fun."