New Delhi: Both movies had female protagonists as their core, both were dealing with “identity narratives”, both were trend aligned… yet one pipped the other to win prestigious global awards, while the other silently observed. Not just the BAFTA Awards that were announced last night, but French film ‘Emelia Perez’ also stole the limelight (and the award) at the Golden Globe earlier this year, beating our very own Payal Kapadia’s ‘All We Imagine…’ While the Jacques Audiard mount follows four women in Mexico, each pursuing their own happiness, Kapadia’s honest film revolves around two Malayali nurses in Mumbai and the uncanny friendship that they forge. Yes, Kapadia and her Malayalam-Hindi film created history by becoming the first from India to win the Grand Prix at the Cannes in May last year, but it has been subsequently snubbed at all other global outings.

Why did India’s cinematic experience fail to impress upon the jury? Is it that universal resonance trumped cultural specificity? Or does it all boil down to how one markets and promotes their film to catch the global attention? Or simply, we ask, is the BAFTA biased? It appears to be a heady mix of all the above.

While ‘All We Can…’ does immerse its viewers in the intimate lives of its protagonists, played to near perfection by Kani Kusruti and Divya Prabha, it fails to woo the “larger audience.” True, the film is........

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