MUMBAI, Dec 20: Two Bollywood films will be competing against each other for the Oscar for best foreign language film next year — though the producer of one of the entries has already given up hopes of bagging a statuette.

‘Paheli’ and ‘Morning Raga’ will be screened for the Oscars, with ‘Paheli’ as India’s official entry.

‘Morning Raga’ was submitted by the film’s US distributor recently in a move that surprised even the movie’s director.

“I am surprised that my distributor submitted the movie for the Oscars without my knowledge,” Mahesh Dattani said.

He said he was not hopeful of winning the coveted award.

“I am not hopeful at all,” he said.

“There are many other wonderful movies, including India’s official entry Paheli. I stand no chance.”

‘Morning Raga’ is a film about the synthesis between different worlds of music — Western and classical. The narrative brings together the modern and traditional blends of music.

‘Paheli’ is a love story based on a rural Indian folk tale, starring top actor Shah Rukh Khan, who plays the role of a lover who is actually a ghost.

‘Paheli’ failed at the box office when released earlier this year.

No Indian movie has ever won an Oscar. In 2001 ‘Lagaan’ was among the final five nominees in the foreign films category but lost out to ‘No Man’s Land’.

A record 56 countries are in the running for the coveted best foreign language award—AFP