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Did you spot the lovely lady in the red sari amidst the jubilant Slumdog Millionaire crowd on Oscar night? She wasn't at the Globes, where director Danny Boyle briefly thanked her. I didn't spot her chatting with any of the media on the red carpet (after all, she wasn't wearing 'anyone', but just a sari). Nor has she been the toast of talk shows that have turned lead actors Dev Patel and Freida Pinto into sensations.
But I was so so hoping that on the big night, she would have the opportunity to walk on stage with Danny Boyle when he picks his award for Best Director (which I was reasonably sure he would).
Loveleen Tandan is the co-director (India) of SM, and is easily one of the few if not only behind-the-scenes women we would have celebrated this award season. Or in a long time. Tandan came on board as casting director (along with Gail Stevens, the other woman on the team who Dev Patel has to thank for his life-changing role). But her contribution to the film led Boyle to offer her the co-director's chair, a role few of us doubt she pulled off effectively. Besides picking a stellar India cast, shooting some of the scenes, and being the official "cultural bridge", she is also the reason you see a third of the film subtitled.
This has already become a bit of controversy, something Tandan herself has sought to avoid. Here's a quote:
Tandan, who was in Mumbai for the Indian premiere of the film, sought to defuse the row today, saying: “My credit is not Directed by'. It is Co-Director (India)'.
“I am greatly honoured by the credit I have been accorded. It would be a grave injustice if the credit I have should have the effect of diminishing Danny Boyle's magnificent achievement.”
Delayed Responsibility puts in words in the quote below what I was thinking during SM's Oscar sweep:
It’s also just a bit telling that as co-director of the favorite for best picture (pre-Oscars show) the cameras didn’t want anything to do with her. Either way, she showed with her work on Slumdog that she has what it takes to create an incredibly detailed setting and characters for a movie.
The nitty-gritty of nominations or the awards themselves don't bother me. It's up to the director, producer and, yes, the co-director to settle who deserves credit for what. And Tandan seems happy with her share, so that should end the controversy right there.
But in an industry so starved of female faces in the director's chair, acknowledging her contribution and seeing her in the spotlight would have given hope to many women planning to get behind the camera, no?
As BlogHer contributing editor Megan Smith noted in her live blog of the Oscars (BlogHer Melsil has a post on this, too):
10:18: Best Documentary Short..."Smile Pinki" Megan Mylan. How is it that women can make great documentaries in Hollywood, but when it comes to making huge studio pictures, no one hires these same women? Just askin'.
This Forbes story tries to get to the bottom of it. Here's a sample:
Take director Catherine Hardwicke. Last year, she told the Los Angeles Times in the same article that she would love to direct a "superhero" movie.
"Did anyone call me with one?" she asks. "No. I got radio silence."
Even after the financial success of Twilight, the studios "are still not throwing money at me," she says
[...]
There's also the perception that a woman simply can't direct a big, male-oriented film: "People have literally said to my face that I can't do action," says Hardwicke, who has worked as a stunt coordinator as well as directed the action-packed Lords of Dogtown and put her signature action stamp on Twilight. "That does make me mad. There's a lot of stuff they would never say if I were a guy."
Luckily for us, the male-dominated Indian film industry has seen quite a few female directors become box-office successes in recent years, both with off-beat and mainstream commercial films.
Successful choreographer-turned-director Farah Khan (Om Shanti Om, Main Hoon Na) is one of Hindi film industry's biggest money-spinners.
Zoya Akhtar --
