Beneath the Glitter

Silver silver on the wall…

Ahhh … the magic of the silver screen!  How it sweeps you away into a world of fantasies!  Most standard human specimens love movies.  My family sure does!  But we rarely go to a multiplex. The screening happens in our master bedroom. There is a king-sized bed, a sink-in sofa, and an apple TV—that’s all that four of us really need to create an exquisite family evening. Of course, unlike the rest in my gang, I am more selective.  If it’s not my kind of flick, I don’t complain—I just snore away.   The only exceptional season of sleeplessness is the pre-Oscars phase.   Every year, during Oscars countdown, there is a frenzy to catch up on all the movies nominated for the academy awards.  It builds up the excitement leading to the live telecast.

Filmfare, and its many cousins, don’t elicit the same excitement.  Is that a reflection of my diluted identity under the influence of western culture?  Who cares?  I am sure my personal inclinations are of inconsequential interest to the learned readers.  Then let’s delve on my professional identity…  If I were to prefer Filmfare over Oscars, would that make me any less or more of a professional? A wrong question, once again.  In this new age of strong individualism, any attempt to correlate personal preferences with professional identities is an act of sacrilege.

Pirating around…

We might as well get back to the unspoken charter of this blog, that is: The extraction of business lessons from random events of the mainstream world.  Do we have an opportunity here?  Buried beneath the ecosystem of differences between the Oscars and the Filmfare award functions, is there a lurking business lesson?  If yes, would you like to volunteer in digging out this learning?  You see, I am planning to leverage the comments of the readers to improvise on the next edition of this blog.  A cue from the most intriguing ‘difference’ between the Oscars and the Filmfare award functions will be picked up, and then I will try to weave a business lesson around it.  Please state only one difference in no more than 50 words.

Yes, there is a gift voucher for the best innovators!  After the recent delightful dining experience with the winners club at my house, I can’t wait for the opportunity to play the host again for all the ‘innovative’ commenters .  And those not in a mood to stress their grey cells, please help capture the demography of our audience base by participating in the poll question below:

Which type of movie awards do you normally enjoy watching?

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37 Comments

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  1. One of the differences between Oscars and Filmfare is that Oscars is a global event and hence people from across the world identify with it whereas Flimfare is a local event. Being the only award show, people find its(Oscars) authenticity to be higher which is why, Oscar nominated movies start getting more viewership after being nominated and everyone is in a rush to watch them either before or after the ceremony. Nothing like this happens with Filmfare or its cousins, no one is in a rush to watch the nominated movies even if they have not seen it before as the perception associated with Indian awards shows is that they are more of a gimmick to improve TRP ratings and pacify actors.

  2. An Oscars is just the same as Film-fare with an exception that Film-fare does not celebrates creativity and talent or art; it celebrates the Box office.

  3. Oscars: Awards more on the acting, genuinity, originality, story, and execution of the film. According to me it is by far the only award function which is not biased on country/race/language, etc.
    Film fare: Awards films based on the stardom of seasoned actors/directors…more of a family dominated business. Hence less popularity.
    Similarly an organization which is not biased on employees and rewards only on merits and performance will surely be more popular and eventually be more successful. All the leading companies are examples.
    While organizations which are biased on employees resulting a rift between preferred employees and performers which are not credited and hence end up hopping somewhere else…as a result the popularity and production, reputation of the organization goes down.

  4. At Bollywood awards, it’s often hard to find a second deserving hopeful…although they will nominate 4 others they want to please! The big difference between Oscars and Bollywood awards is that even if Streep hadnt won, it still would have gone to a deserving winner.

  5. Oscar nominated movies have more of global appeal and align to my taste. They have better perspective and insight into the stories they represent. Mostly the movies doing well in box offices and being presented filmfare awards are typically ‘masala’ movies and my interest is that of ‘art’ movies. People go to get entertained and watch light comedy movies. Unlike them, I would rather invest that time in something more profound and meaningful.

  6. I like one thing about Filfare award function that it has Indinized or Desi touch even if foreigners are performing, which is not there in Oscar award function

  7. For me it would be Filmfare, as all other comments suggest , Oscars are great in everything and do hold the credibility of judgment. but filmfare in our country caters to the masses, hence it gives you what you want. and in this present time, our entertainment hungry country , loves Filmfair and the drama around it. we love stars and have shown little to the story lines.

    It is like Wine and Dark Rum for me, the prior is excellent and sophisticated ,which holds class in itself. while the other caters to my taste and my need this time.. we all want to be Wine.. but deserve Rum at large.

    I might be fool who knows he is, or I might be a fool who doesn’t know that.. but this is my opinion ,and opinion only.

  8. The Oscars isn’t something unique. It’s just a show and it’s no better than the Filmfare Award.

  9. The difference is – Mythology.
    Filmafare are held with low esteem (and contempt) as against Oscar with High Esteem of its own Inhabitants. Oscar makes Today’s star; Legend of Tomorrow.

  10. Between Oscars and Filmfares the way the award winners are selected is the lurking business lesson – Recognize and award the BEST vs. the POPULAR..

  11. One of the difference is that the parameters to judge the nominations and the actual winner are more streamlined and process oriented in Oscars. You may see that an actor wins just one or two oscars in his career span. Whereas we have cabinets full of filmfare and its cousins in most of the superstars in bollywood. Since the criteria for oscars is not just popularity or box office collection, the harder or challenging it is to be nominated and then get awarded. Jury board is also very diverse and stringent checks in terms of process monitoring and adherance are followed which make the end result very much interesting for viewers and satisfying for the achievers

  12. Difference – Oscar awards is honestly judged on sheer performance in which system is transparent, more evolved with time whereas Filmfare awards is something more judged on commercial side, biased and not so evolved system.

    Some things have to be earned and some can be bought in world.

  13. This came to my mind a couple of years back…
    “Why do people watch award ceremonies…
    Perhaps they enjoy acting performances by actors while accepting those awards…”

  14. The Oscars – focussed on its capabilities at the core. Oscar success is bound to follow.
    Filmfare – beneath the glitter, it is defocussed at the core.
    However, the differentiator in this case should not be inherited from mere visible aesthetics (Filmfare) but from grass root implementation of productivities/output (Oscars).

  15. I think Oscars honoring best in the cinemas. While film fare is exactly opposite of that. It is like actors are insulting themselves in front of audience.

  16. There was a time, when we were obsessed with America and Americans, what ever they does, we are bound of follow.
    Now the time has changed a bit.. 😉
    It cannot be said that OSCAR are not biased, having said that, if ” Slum dog Millionaire ” movie was made by some Indian, would have achieved the same number of awards, Was this Reheman’s first film ?

    I feel, its very difficult to chose awardee for awards like OSCAR or Filmfare. You are choosing, best among best.

    Everyone is good at there own place, Its just because we made it a status and they made it business. [Business to call people, pay for travel / logistics]

    I enjoy filmfare… it a happening place with our hero’s with live comedy

  17. Oscar is a biggest brand in Awards and there is no competition for Oscars whereas Filmfare is one of the awards (cousins 🙂 ) in Indian film industry. And this difference makes big impact on quality of competition even after scaling on their viewership.
    Also we have seen polarization of directors, actors towards these different awards in Indian film industry which kills healthy competition.

  18. Oscar is more of Sophisticated and just focus on Award ceremony where Filmfare also organized performance of various actors. Having said that Both cater Requirement of target audience

  19. Indian films vie to be in the Oscar list, but no foreign films comes in the Filmfare one. That speaks about the reach, impact, credibility, popularity and importance of Oscars over Filmfare.

  20. I think, or I believe, it is the typical Indian or an emerging with poor speed nation’s mentality. We produce good films with very limited scope, and pathetic with a vision to open them in all countries at once.
    The same goes with the award ceremonies. We can organize good functions like the way Modi organized an IPL in Africa. But we prefer the quick, easy and cheap way every time.

  21. Oscar is the real brand of world movies. From getting nominated to till receiving an award…..it is a sophisticated and thorough process. Moreover if we remember the awarded movies, all they are either realistic dramas or high in technology.

    Filmfare always go with glam and sham. Top heroes, glamorous heroines and well known directors in Bollywood always known for awards and even viewers can predict the awards that who can win regardless of their real choice of award.

    Simplest example is The Hurt Locker movie can win maximum academy awards in Hollywood but “Kabul Express” kind of movies will be remain unknown in Bollywood. Even a biographical picture (Bhag Milka Bhag…for a sake of an argument) needed so called masala elements.

    Filmfare is purely depends on box office collections where Oscar go for the real “material”

  22. Oscars, which is, at the end of day an organization/body, (like Apple) has created a world/demand for itself, by giving it years of careful nurturing and not losing out on its zeal to outstand, most importantly keeping (I believe) MOVIES first over anything else.
    Filefare (like Nokia) is built for a different market and plays with different budgets and rules. It intends to add public demand, stardom, movie budget, sponsors interest into its criteria along with movie content and its doing good, in its market, in what its set to do. (sry lil over 50 words. Cudnt stop the movie lover in me.)

  23. We have all lived under the perception and opinion that Oscar awards have a more stringent process and thereby true talent and movies are eventually the recipients of the awards and Filmfare is often looked down upon and awards that can be bought. I decided to give this a non-prejudiced view and figured I should actually look up the nomination process to see if perceptions were based on actual data or just passed down gossip conversations and magazines. The below is the difference (in no more than 50 words!) that I’d like to highlight. My views are not on how the winners are picked, rather it’s on how the movies are nominated for the awards.

    Nominations: Filmfare award nominations are decided by Public Opinion (public voting), usually successful movies. Oscar nominations are decided by Industry Opinion, folks in the thick of the movie business. Movie crazy emotions don’t drive the nominations, rather the list is put together by folks who understand the movie making business.

  24. I believe Filmfare and Oscars are one and the same having no such fascinating difference.
    The Oscars isn’t something unique. It’s just a show and it’s no better than the Filmfare Awards. It has been documented that some of the Oscar voters have not had anything to do with the movie industry for more than 30 years. That is why we see old fashioned, politically-correct films get nominated over newer, radical and challenging stuff. Same is the case with Filmfare and other desi shows. Like Filmfare, Oscars are also ‘fixed’. The Oscars are as fair as health care in North Korea, as transparent as Subrata Roy’s Swiss bank accounts and as sincere as Raza Murad in Mohra. So both are ‘just’ shows with no much substantial difference, just the hype is tremendous in case of Oscars.
    Hoping to see you as host 🙂

  25. Oscars are telecasted raw and live while Filmfare is polished and edited. Oscars are ready to show their flaws, which one hardly sees while Filmfare tries to be flawless, but fails miserably. Everytime.

  26. Comparing the two shows, they are similar and yet vastly different, providing something for everyone based on personal taste in movies.

    Both the Awards are predictable when it comes to winners, but for different reasons :

    Filmfare is a popularity contest. It is without doubt that the
    nominees will include the most popular actors in Bollywood,
    regardless of movie quality.

    The Oscars love artistic movies that take on quality subjects.
    It is so predictable that filmmakers will create movies that
    fit those qualities to guarantee a nomination .

  27. Filmfare is an award where public voting also is taken into account and its concept is similar to MTV Awards where invariably the best films never win in any case.India still awaits a democratic credible film award. Indian catagories always have one special nomination, which we know, will win and there will be 3-4 more just to please. I will close this up by pointing to the difference in quality between The Oscars and awards in India. The nominations truly mean something for academy awards, they are not vacuous. And speaking of quality and class, the announcement is not preceded by parroting the names of sponsors but a simple line
    And The Oscar goes to….

  28. Academy Award or Oscar, started by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) and Filmfare by Times Group.

    I think major difference between Oscar & Filmfare is Oscar is not sponsored whereas Filmfare is sponsored by many of sponsors such as in 2013 it was sponsored by Idea.

  29. Reading all the above views which covers most of the points related to Oscars and Filmfare awards, i would like to differentiate it with respect to their trophies….

    Oscar: The Academy Award of Merit more popularly known as the Oscar statuette depicts a knight rendered in Art Deco style holding a crusader’s sword standing on a reel of film with five spokes. ‘Oscar’ is a stylized knight holding a crusader’s sword in front of his body. His hands, chest high, hold the sword’s ‘grip,’ with the blade running from his chest to his feet, pointing down toward the pedestal.

    Filmfare: The statuette, depicting a woman whose arms uprise in a dance number with her fingers touching, is commonly referred to as “The Black Lady. Winners are always very overwhelmed when they hold the lady in their hands not only because it proves and shows their hard work but also because of the warm feeling and excitement that comes with it. The appearance of this lady is quite surprising because the Indian population tends to believe that a dark appearance is not attractive in a human being but they beg to differ when it comes to this beautiful lady.

    Though the Oscar statute depicts a lot ,being a lady i would always go with the Black Lady.

  30. Both the Oscars and the Filmfare awards have their unique panache, which captures so many people’s attention and time.

    To me, the main difference between the Oscars and the Filmfare awards, is the fact that the Oscars, celebrates and awards International talent, whereas Filmfare, celebrates and awards mainly talent from Indian cinema. In the grand scheme of things, most veteran and aspiring film professionals the world over, look for their work to be appreciated on a global scale rather than domestic, and the Oscars cater to the former.

  31. I see following as a main differences between Oscars and Filmfare.

    1. Size of jury & efforts spent by jury in movie selection.
    2. Quality vs. Popularity. Filmfare celebrates box office success where as Oscars celebrate art. Note that Filmfare has now started giving parallel critics awards for each category.
    3. Presentation. Filmfare presentation is more focused on pleasing TV viewers. Due to this extravagant presentation, technical awards are not getting enough weightage.
    Where as Oscar presentation is classy and honors all craftsman of the cinema. Oscars even celebrates world cinema.
    4. Oscars is having its own fan following who woke up at 6:00 in the morning to watch it live like me. However, there are large number of Indian like to watch edited awards after a week time.
    5. Oscars is more focused on the cinema where as Filmfare is a sponsored event and focused more on entertainment and awards seem to be a secondary events.

    Hope these points will help.

  32. You really don’t know what is the scene behind the stage for both the award functions whether the awards are given to the nominees who pay the organizers handsome amount or they are truly based on the performance of actors.

    The only difference which I can mark here is the involvement of cast. The Hollywood and others have actors well know to the global world and for Filmfare we just have Bollywood fans without much involvement of foreign actors. That is one of the reason which makes Oscars a bigger player then Filmfare.

    Just a small example try comparing IPL with other cricket leagues, what makes it more interesting. 4 foreign players in each team and competing against each other from same nation. Isn’t there involvement making a difference?

  33. Beneath the Glitter | Arun Nathani Blog | Arun Nathani Blog

  34. Cool, I’ve been looking for this one for a long time

  35. interesting for a very long time

  36. thanks, interesting read

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Beneath the Glitter - Arun Nathani Blog