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La La Land: Biggest Snub of Oscars 2016?

I clearly remember the race to 2015 Oscars..It was one of the most memorable ones in recent times because of the quality of films on display. No one really knew till the end which film was gonna win the Oscars. It needed not to be The Revenant, well Leo and Tom were good in it but the first itself was an excruciating experience and unfathomably grim. And thus Academy surprised us with it's decision of awarding best film to 'Spotlight'. A pretty fantastic decision considering no one begrudged it afterwards. But does the Academy really need to surprise us every year just because it wants to elude to most important of decisions? Why can't it like the most overwhelming of films to give the award to like it did with The King's Speech and Slumdog Millionaire?

Or so Academy wanted me to test it's incredible selection decision once more? Come Oscars 2016. I believe I watched the name of La La Land topping every prominent critics' list leading to this ceremony. Moonlight, Manchester by the Sea and Arrival were other firm favorites in descending order of likeliness of getting the top honor. But Academy trumped La La Land and I really didn't know whether to celebrate this decision or rue it. I personally didn't like Moonlight. It was surely a difficult watch with a very challenging premise, one which hasn't been tested before and it was a worthy winner of course. I didn't till that time watch La La Land and seeing Academy's love for it, bestowing 12 nominations to it, I discarded it once again thinking it really was going to sweep the Oscars 2016 for good. And I must tell you I don't like overwhelming favorites too just like Academy and thus revel in it's surprise decision making. But yesterday, La La Land finally came knocking to my door and I had to watch it. It had to be an extraordinary film for scoring 12 Oscars nominations and yes, it didn't disappoint. Reason being it was a 'real' American film where pragmatism takes precedence over everything, even the purest form of love and selflessness. The fact that Sebastian and Mia (it's lead characters) don't get to live happily ever after really filled me with joy because it felt genuinely trustworthy considering today's age where fealty and fidelity don't need to count for nothing. The fact that both become successful in their goals of achieving something substantial while loving and thinking of each other all the time was the ultimate ending one could have hoped for and that's the reason everybody loved it so much. It was a musical drama, the kind I dislike the most because I am a Bollywood born and bred, but it was real and I had to commend the power and efforts of it's director Damien Chazelle and it's lead starcast of Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. An absolute Bliss and 'city of stars' is gotta be the most soothing tone/song of the year. It was sassy, it was light-footed and it was hearty. It was a winner. And that led me again to my earlier question to Academy.....Why, just why, it felt the urge to surprise us yet again just for the sake of it?

La La Land deserved to bring home the Best Film Oscars. The fact that it didn't makes it all the more memorable......#WatchIt

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