Amol didn't want 'Court' to be selected as Oscars entry: Rahul Rawail

Mumbai, Sep 25: Filmmaker Rahul Rawail on Thursday accused panel chairperson Amol Palekar of having an agenda not to let "Court" be selected as India's official entry for the Oscars, but yet wanting to be the "hero" behind its eventually selection. "Our chairman Amol Palekar had only one agenda right from the beginning that 'Court' shouldn't come. He was very adamant that somehow 'Court' be removed. I don't know the reason behind this but it is true. You can ask anyone else in the jury about it and they'll say that it is correct," said Rawail in a press conference to provide his version in the controversy. "The thing he is saying that Rahul Rawail resigned after 'Court' was selected is wrong. And that I resigned because he wasn't happy with 'Court'. But I resigned before the last vote." When the panel brought it down to the four best films, a poll was conducted where Rawail claims that Palekar manipulated the votes by saying the 'Court' stood last tied along with another film. When a cross-check was done, it was revealed that 'Court' had stood second in the votes and not last as earlier claimed. Rawail also said that Palekar constantly tried to push 'Court' out of contention by saying that it had a substantial amount of dialogues in English, a criteria considered by the Academy Awards committee. Palekar's claims about this weren't true and didn't convince the other jury members, held Rawail.