DAM 999 fails in Oscar journey

Highlights

• India's only hope at the Oscars this year, filmmaker Sohan Roy's DAM 999 Tuesday failed to secure a place in the final nomination list of the 84th Academy Awards.
• The movie stood a chance to feature in the best picture, best original song and best original score categories.
• The nominations were announced at the Sameul Goldwyn Theatre here.
• Roy's DAM 999, a $10 million film, tells the tale of a cracking dam built during colonial rule and revolves around nine characters and their emotions. The lives of all the nine characters revolve around the central edifice - the pressure-mounted dam.
• The movie was unusually not in the running for the foreign movie category, but as a contender against international biggies like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Thor, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. It was among 265 films that were contending for the best picture nomination at the Oscars.
• Also, three of its songs - Dakkanaga Dugu Dugu, DAM999 Theme Song and Mujhe Chhod Ke - were among the 39 shortlisted for nominations in the original song category. That apart, it also stood a chance for nomination in the original score category.
• Now contending in the best picture category include - The Artist, The Descendants, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life and War Horse.
• The Oscar presentation ceremony will take place Feb 26 at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles