A still from Brick Lane

London, Jan. 16: No Bollywood film — not even the hugely successful Om Shanti Om — has made it in the list of nominations announced today for Bafta, the British equivalent of the Oscars.

This will be very disappointing for the Indian film industry, especially as Bollywood received a huge projection last year with the nomination of Rang De Basanti in the best foreign film cate- gory though it did not go on to win.

However, Sarah Gavron, director of Brick Lane, based on Monica Ali’s novel of the same name and partly filmed near Calcutta, is up for the Carl Foreman Award for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer for their First Feature Film.

Although Shekhar Kapur has personally missed out, the director of Elizabeth: The Golden Age can put in a proud appearance when the British Academy of Film and Television Arts announces the winners next month.

With the Golden Globe in America having been reduced to a news conference and doubts about whether the writers’ dispute can be settled in time for the Oscars in Los Angeles, this year’s Bafta has assumed greater importance.

The awards take place on February 10 at the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden, and will be hosted by TV presenter Jonathan Ross for the second consecutive year.

Kapur’s favourite star, Cate Blanchett, is nominated for Leading Actress for her role in Elizabeth: The Golden Age.

Although Kapur has not been nominated for best director, he will be delighted that his film is up for three other awards — Production Design, Costume Design and Make-Up and Hair.

What Bollywood is discovering is that though Hindi films rake in more money at the UK box-office than other foreign movies, commercial successes are not translating into artistic triumphs.

This year, in the Best Film Not in the English Language category, Bollywood has been squeezed out by the following nominations: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly; The Kite Runner; The Lives of Others; Lust, Caution; and La Vie En Rose (this movie about French singer Edith Piaf is up for seven awards).

Atonement, based on Ian McEwan’s novel, is clearly this year’s big film. It has received 14 nominations, including Best Film and Best British Film. Its stars, Keira Knightley and James McAvoy, have been nominated for Leading Actress and Leading Actor. The film is also up for Best Director for Joe Wright, Adapted Screenplay, Music, Cinematography, Editing, Production Design, Sound, Costume Design and Make-Up and Hair.

No Country For Old Men, the latest film from the Coen brothers, and There Will Be Blood, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, received nine nominations each.