Reliance DreamWorks films get 11 Oscar nominations

Los Angeles: Three films produced by Reliance DreamWorks, a venture between industrialist Anil Ambani and Hollywood producer-director Steven Spielberg, have bagged as many as 11 Oscar nominations this year, it was announced Tuesday.

This is the first time movies produced by a company with such huge Indian holding has bagged such large nominations for one of the most prestigious cinema awards across the globe. The nominations are for ‘War Horse’, ‘The Help’ and ‘Real Steel’. Directed by Spielberg himself, ‘War Horse’ has been nominated for six categories -- best picture, sound editing, sound mixing, original score, art direction and cinematography. This movie is about the friendship between a horse named Joey and a young man called Albert and releases in India Feb 10. Nomination for best achievement in visual effects is for ‘Real Steel’ -- a sci-fi thriller with Hugh Jackman in the lead. For ‘The Help’, directed by Tate Tylor, the nominations are again for best picture, as also for best actress, best supporting actress and best picture trophies. This year`s Oscar nomination pack is led by ‘Hugo’, which has 11 nominations alone. It is followed by "The Artist" with 10 nominations. Apart from movies produced by Reliance DreamWorks, India`s only hope at the Oscars -- Sohan Roy`s ‘DAM 999’ -- failed to make it to any category. One of Ambani`s group firms and Spielberg-promoted venture had forged a mega venture in 2008 to make films for the global audience and set up a Hollywood studio. The deal also helped the celebrated filmmaker to break away from Viacom Paramount Pictures, which owned DreamWorks till then. While the Reliance Group pumped in $325 million, a similar amount was raised from a consortium of investment banks. IANS