Parasite sweeps big

Sunday's Academy Awards was the first time in its 92-year history that the overall best picture prize went to a non-English-language movie. Bong Joon-ho's South Korean black comedy, Parasite deservingly attracted raised eyebrows as it won the Oscar for Best film, besides also winning the best film in foreign category. It was a jubilant night for the film industry as perhaps the first time, the due acknowledgement went to where it actually belonged. Bong Joon-ho won the best screenplay and best director as well. A visible disappointment hovered over makers of The Irishmen, Two Popes, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Marriage Story, 1917 — all of which can be said to be classics of the preceding year — as Parasite swept home the biggest prize besides three more. For fans, the biggest upset might have been the under-acknowledgement of Joker which grabbed only two awards. Joaquin Phoenix won the best actor and that remains a relief for many as he was lauded for his performance in what has been a remarkable movie. Heath Ledger would be smiling from heaven over that one. Both 1917 and Ford v Ferrari grabbed multiple awards for excellence in technical categories such as Best Editing and Best Sound Mixing while Elton John bagged the Best Original Song for his work on Rocketman.

The outstanding win by Parasite is significant of the fact that Oscars made a real effort to widen its inclusion policy. Having a dominant Asian cast, the film's appreciation tells a lot about the growing acceptance for the art of different languages as well as contours. Parasite's performance largely eclipsed Netflix's record 24 nominations as the latter left with only two prizes. Universal Studio's 1917 bagged three prizes on Sunday, including best cinematography, best sound editing and best visual effects — coming second to Parasite's four. In a sense, Oscars gave a clear winner in Parasite and 1917 while posed a major disappointment for Netflix that would have almost believed The Irishmen winning the prize for something. Parasite's big win gives Asian cinema a big boost as the coming years may see a shift in winning patterns. At home, Bollywood has to ponder whether making money is the only outcome or can we produce pictures that garner global appreciation? Global appreciation will amass the kind of money too. All it takes is one good story to tell the world. In the 92-year history, we are yet to make it big.