COLD WAR: Aamir and Anusha on the sets of Peepli Live

Ever since director Anusha Rizvi has distanced herself from Peepli Live, producer Aamir Khan has kept quiet using phrases like “dignified silence” to justify his stance. But according to sources, Aamir may not campaign for Peepli Live at the Oscars and may even withdraw his film from the competition.

“He is hurt and upset,” says someone who knows Aamir well. “Having done so much for the film, he wasn’t expecting such a turn of events.”

Anusha has officially said that she is dissociating herself from Peepli Live because she isn’t happy with the way the film was marketed and released. One version doing the rounds of the Mumbai grapevine is that she and her husband Mahmood Farooqui (also the casting director of Peepli Live) now feel that they have been short-changed.

“When the papers were signed with Aamir Khan’s company they were least bothered about the money and just wanted the film to be made. Now that it has gone on to make so many crores at the box office, they feel they need a larger share,” says a source.

More importantly, though, India may not have a film at the Oscars if Aamir does decide to pull out. “You cannot campaign for a film without a director... it doesn’t give out the right signals to the Academy members,” says a Bollywood director who knows how it all works in Hollywood.

If Peepli Live is withdrawn from the Oscars, no other Indian film can fill in the blank because the deadline is gone. Will Aamir go the distance despite the egg-on-the-face effect on the Indian film industry? Or will he just sit it out and let the film’s fate be decided on its merit. We will know soon.