Colin Firth is Bachchan's Oscar favourite?

Amitabh Bachchan is moved by British actor Colin Firth's portrayal of Queen Elizabeth's father, King George VI in 'The King's Speech'.

Colin Firth, loved for his portrayal of Mr Darcy in 'Pride & Prejudice' and the actor who rendered an impeccable performance in Tom Ford's highly acclaimed 'A Single Man' two years back is Amitabh Bachchan's favourite for this year's Oscars it seems.

The renowned British actor has been nominated at the Oscars in the 'Best Actor' category this year.

The legendary superstar of Hindi cinema, Amitabh Bachchan shared with us, "The King's Speech' is an amazing film. Colin Firth is simply outstanding in his performance! The attention to detail... incredible!"

Big B seems to be cued in to the Oscar-fever this year. He had earlier commented on another Oscar favourite 'The Social Network' too saying, "The Social Network' was a good film but unfortunately most of India does not know internet. Let Hollywood make a film like 'Baghban' ... will they?"

The King's Speech has been nominated for 12 Academy Awards and tells the story of the Queen's father, King George VI, played by Colin Firth, who struggles to overcome a stutter with the help of an Australian speech therapist played by Geoffrey Rush.

Other than Amitabh Bachchan, Queen Elizabeth too was moved by the film when it was shown to her at a private screening.

Oscar nomination, again

Javier Bardem’s Biutiful has received two Oscar nominations — for the best foreign film and the Best Actor category. Here’s what the actor has to share about his role in the film and much more. What was it that really attracted you to Uxbal and made you want to play him?

A lot of things. I’m a huge fan of the director, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, and his work, to begin with, but, as I’m not the kind of person that gets drawn towards names, what draws me toward a project is the script itself. 

For a film with this level of emotional intensity, how do you maintain that over a shoot that’s five months long?I don’t know how. I just did it, but I don’t know how to do it.

Did it help that this film was done chronologically? Yeah, that helped a lot. Otherwise, it would have been too crazy to be able to go through that journey randomly. 

How was Alejandro, as a director?
Javier’s one of the greatest directors of all time, with the way he films and the way he puts together the filming. He’s also an actor’s director. You can tear apart your heart  into pieces, but if the camera is not in the right place, it doesn’t matter. He knows where to put the camera.  He knows how to work with silence. That’s how good he is. 

How would you feel, having been nominated for an Oscar for this role?
It’s great fun and a great honour. It’s something that you never dream of. And then, it happens and you try to share it with all the people that are meaningful to you.

How do you pick your characters?
I don’t know. It happens. You feel driven to it. That’s it.

All smiles for Bardem
Javier Bardem smiles after winning Oscar for Supporting Actor, in 2007, for No Country for Old Men. He received his first Oscar nomination for Before Night Falls, 2000 in the Best Actor category. With Biutiful, 2010, the list of Oscar nominations under his belt goes to three.

PVR Pictures brings four 2011 Oscar nominations to India

PVR Pictures, the flagship film production and arm of PVR Ltd; is proud to be associated with four leading Oscar nominations for the 83rd Academy Awards. Brought down exclusively for Indian audiences, all four International titles will screen in the first quarter of the year.

Nominated for Best Actor in Leading Role (Javier Bardem) and Best Foreign Film is Biutiful while Rabbit Hole has received a nomination for Nicole Kidman as Best Actress in Leading Role. The Way Back will vie it’s chance to win for Best Make Up & Another Year has been picked for Best Writing for Original Screenplay.

Contending for actor in a leading role, Javier Bardem said, ‘I am truly honored for this nomination; and deeply thankful to the Academy members for their trust and support. Also to all of those who showed their support to my work in Biutiful I express my heartfelt gratitude. I am very happy for Alejandro and everyone who has made possible the special movie we made together. It's really a huge honor to have been nominated in a non-English speaking performance.

Kamal Gianchandani, President, PVR Pictures added, “Our approach at PVR Pictures is to handpick movies that have hard hitting actor performances, substantial and unique content or brilliance in reproducing the vision of the script into celluloid. Each of the four Oscar nominations have been chosen exclusively for our Indian audiences and it pleases us to see that our constant effort over the past year to acquire distribution rights for films that we believe are a must watch in India has resulted so well. While we wish all four films the very best, we do hope that everyone in India enjoys watching them.”

PVR Pictures shares close associations with leading Hollywood Studios like Summit, Focus, Exclusive, Affinity and more that has helped offer Indian cinemas a perfect value package doubled with screenplay and quality. The Twilight Saga is a product of Summit, a sequel of which is scheduled to hit Indian cinemas later this year. Focus has produced Biutiful & Another Year, Exclusive - The Way Back and Affinity - Rabbit Hole.

About the four Oscar nominated movies:

Another Year

Release Date: January 21st 2011

Another Year is a soul touching film by British directorial veteran Mike Leigh who is known for films such as Secrets & Lies (1996), Vera Drake (2004) and Happy Go Lucky (2008). He is known to provide a “slice of life” through his films with this being no exception to his emotional genre.

Biutiful

Release Date: February 4th 2011

This is an unconventional depiction of a love story between a father and his children. Biutiful is an impressively directed and superbly written, aesthetically shot portraying the powerful emotional drama with a terrific central performance from Javier Bardem.

Rabbit Hole

Release Date: February 18th 2011

The Nicole Kidman starrer is the much awaited family drama of the year, unraveling the most complex relationship of a happily married couple coping with the death of their young son in an accident. This movie is based on a Pulitzer Prize winning play by David Lindsay-Abaire, directed by John Cameron Mitchell.

The Way Back

Release Date: February 25th 2011

Collin Farell stars in a daring reconstruction of a daring escape in the 1941 Siberian Gulag during World War II. The Way Back is an epic tale which may have been merely inspired from the true story. Nevertheless, this is a robustly made picture, heartfelt, well executed with an exhilarating sense of reach and narrative ambition. It stars Jim Sturgess, Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Saoirse Ronan, and Mark Strong.

Source: oneindia