Playwright Mahesh Dattani's second feature film Morning Raga continues to go from glory to glory...The latest being its backdoor entry into the Oscars. Dattani speaks to Subhash K Jha about the film's uncharted progress.

Q: Morning Raga has become much bigger than you thought...
A: Oh yes! It just seems to have acquired a life of its own. I'm quite surprised by how far it has gone....Currently I'm looking into a couple of theatre projects...But I've discovered the filmmaker in myself. I think Morning Raga reflects the true Indian cultural condition.

As modern Indians we have a tradition to carry forward....Shabana Azmi I think added greatly to the film. And to think I was told I should take a South Indian actress to play the Carnatic singer!

That would've been so unimaginative and simplistic. What's the point in choosing someone who's the right breed and letting her do the predictable?

Q: You'be submitted Morning Raga at the Oscars on your own..
A: I think Amol Palekar's Paheli which is our official entry is a good choice. But the selection for the Oscars isn't always right. One always feels there're better films that need to be showcased for Oscar nominations.

Q: Did Morning Raga get left behind because of the language?
A: I think so. It was mainly the apathy of the jury. It seems one has to lobby to get one's film considered. We weren't even selected in the Indian panorama, leave alone an Oscar nomination. The language is just an excuse. Didn't they select Aparna Sen's 36 Chowringhee Lane in the Indian panorama? So, I think, was Monsoon Wedding.

I feel the selection process is very arbitrary. When you say my film can't be eligible because it's in the English language what are you implying? That my film isn't Indian? How much more Indian can a film get than Morning Raga? The Federation needs to do a reality check. There's more Indians speaking English than the British.

If I can be awarded the Sahitya Akademy—which is one of the greatest literary honours of the country-- for my plays in English, why can't my English language film be eligible? It's just a stupid rule that no one has cross-checked.

Q: Maybe Aparna Sen is more Indian than you are?
A: Yeah maybe because she wears a bindi. Maybe I should start wearing a bindi to be more Indian for the Film Federation. The selection depends on the taste and mood of those in –charge. One thing I can be proud of is that Morning Raga is not derivative. It's an original script.

Q: Was it your producer K. Raghvendra Rao's idea to enter the Oscars on your own?
A: No, it was our international distributor Prashant Shah. He did it on his initiative. My producer and I didn't even know we could enter our film in the Oscars' mainstream categories, though it has had a mainstream foreign release and has been covered by all the mainstean US media.

We thought it had to go through the Film Federation as a foreign entry. Morning Raga is probably the first Indian film to enter in the mainstream category. Quite an honour.

Q: Wouldn't it create an awkwardness vis – a-vis Paheli?
A: Not at all! We aren't competing against each other. Paheli is up for best foreign film. Morning Raga is being sent for the mainstream categories—best film, actress, music , director. I'm hopeful about at least the music.

Q: Why just the music, why not Shabana Azmi's performance?
A: Yes, why not? You never know....She certainly deserves it.

Q: Do you feel this is a new precedent?
A: I think so. Other filmmakers who feel they're left out would now know there's another way of doing it. One needn't go through the Indian government. The immensity of our move hasn't sunk in. Somehow I'm still in denial.

Q: What next?
A: I'm working on something. Morning Raga really left me exhausted. I had decided never to make another film after it. But now I feel re-charged. I've realized marketing a film is as important as making it.

One can't be romantic and naïve and believe it's enough to make a good film and let it loose...So yes, I'll be going more mainstream in my next film...just as Morning Raga was more towards the mainstream than my first film Mango Souffle. But I don't want to get sucked into the demands of the boxoffice

. I believe it's possible to make a mainstream film without getting mired into the stereotypes. Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas and Ashutosh Gowariker's Lagaan did it with so much panache. On the other the song placements in Ketan Mehta's Mangal Pandey were wrong.

Q: Aamir Khan's fee along was Rs 7 crores....
A: I can make three Morning Ragas with that kind of money...or maybe four.