'I am a bit surprised by the jury decision not so much because it concerned my film but there were better films to choose from. For instance, I thought Shah Rukh's SWADES stood a better chance any day in comparison to his PAHELI. I congratulate Shah Rukh and wish him all the best but of course I would have always voted for HAZAARON... for its sheer calibre.'

On the other hand, director Sudhir Mishra is reticent in his comments on the development. However the disillusionment in his voice and choice of words is obvious. 'I am not here for glamour and money, nor am I answerable to the industry or the audiences for my kind of films. The Oscar awards are not the last word in my life. If the taste of the F.F.I. jury is PAHELI, it is great. I respect it. If anything, I am happy for Shah Rukh and wish him good luck from the bottom of my heart. He has done our industry proud and I am glad that we'll see more of him in the future,' he says.

Filmmaker Tanuja Chandra, admits to having missed out on watching the film but admits to being taken by surprise when she heard of the decision. 'I could not catch up on PAHELI but from what I have been told, it falters in the department of story-telling though it confirms to technical standards. I always felt that the thought-provoking SWADES was always a better bet than any other film. BLACK was a wonderful film too but the jury must have probably found it too close to American cinema,' Chandra says. She also has her reservations about how far PAHELI will be able to stand out among the several international films that are entered in the prestigious awards ceremony. 'The world cinema is extremely competitive and the general opinion is that PAHELI will have slim chances of making its presence felt,' she says. However, she does give the jury the benefit of doubt. 'I think one of the reasons the jury chose PAHELI was the fact that it was an indigenously made film with vibrant Indian colors that represented Indian tradition and culture in its true form. PAHELI does confirm on that account,' she adds.

Director Ashok Pandit who is known to be usually vocal about issues concerning the industry prefers to respect the decision of the jury though he was looking at Bhandarkar's PAGE 3 making it to the final tally. 'I think all of us in the industry should abide by the jury's decision. However if I were asked to give my opinion, I would have voted for Madhur Bhandarkar's PAGE 3, which had a great concept, a great style of story-telling and was a great expose on the life of a certain class of people.'

Like Pandit, filmmaker Harry Baweja also feels that the decision of the jury should be respected. 'I think the selection committee knows best why and what led it to take the decision of choosing PAHELI. When they zeroed on the film, they were probably looking at a film that aptly represented Indian culture and values. If we take commercial success as the criteria, most of the films in the race were no commercial successes, so to say. If we have to question the decision of the jury, we first have to acquaint ourselves with the guidelines that are used to select films for the Oscars. None of us are quite aware of it so there is no point in being critical about it. In that case, we also need to question the selection process of those sitting on the jury and how they are selected, since we are equally responsible for their selection,' Baweja says.

Film Federation of India, Vice-President, Santosh Jain has the last word. 'I don't understand why the media and a certain section of the industry is making such a big hue and cry about the F.F.I. jury's choice of PAHELI. First of all let me state that the jury's choice of films for the Oscars has nothing to do with critical acclaim or for that matter commercial success of a film. The ten members of the jury went through a lot of detailing into each of the 15 films, before they arrived at the decision. There were several factors that the looked into including the making, the technique, cinematography and above all a film reflecting the Indian ethos. The F.F.I. jury found the film a perfect representation of India's rich culture,' he justifies.