Well, the million-dollar question was finally answered on Monday (Oscar Sunday in the US). Lagaan didn't win the golden statuette. Interestingly, this one topic had kept the whole country keyed up, numerous drawing room conversations centered around the prospects of Lagaan in competition with the French entry Amelie and reams of newsprint as well as loads of air time was spent on debating what Aamir would wear at the Oscars even though it was director Ashutosh Gowarikar who would have gone up the red carpet to receive the Oscar that his Lagaan XI would have won. The question we are raising is: Has Lagaan lost its glow now that it has failed to get the stamp of approval from a foreign jury? Wouldn't the whole message of Lagaan - the triumph of human spirit over the mighty Angrez get diluted if we had to earn the approval of the American Academy? "What? Lagaan lost," exclaimed Roohi Panday, a bank accountant visiting the city for a short trip. "When I heard the movie was going in as an entry for the Oscars I was mortified. I mean here you have a movie where our people defeat the British... It gave one such a good feeling... And there you go, trying for an Oscar -setting yourself up for defeat against the Americans. They will never award a movie where the Brits have been looked down upon. And how on earth can you expect an American to understand what our cricket is to us? It's like expecting Laloo Yadav to sit in judgment over an American movie on baseball! I think the spirit of Lagaan towers over the Oscars.

Pity how we all thirst for international recognition and endorsement from people who have no idea about our culture and couldn't be bothered about it." Aparna Sharma, a college student is of the opinion that, "There is nothing like losing at the Oscar. Lagaan was all about evolution of Indian sensibility towards regaining independence and lost self-esteem by ordinary people. I think this was primarily meant for Indians. Why should we try to seek a license from others about how we dealt with a situation in history (fictitious though). The film gave new hope to Indian cinema and this is what matters to me as an individual. I'd like it if more cinema makers follow the trend." Karan Bakshi, a housewife, opines, "Although we always say this whenever we can't achieve something. Lagaan's not winning the Oscar is no real defeat. The very fact that the public liked the different subject of the film is indication enough that Indians are looking for filmmakers to make movies on subjects they believe in. As for why Lagaan didn't win was because there was no commercial release of the movie in LA. The length of Indian movies is also a factor." Thus, for the Lagaan guys, you are already winners for giving us a great movie. Who cares for the Oscar? And just one word for the perfectionist Aamir Khan - if you don't accept other desi film awards, why vie for that which is totally paraya and phoren?