The Academy doesn't vote for a film. It films its vote, as a moral zeitgeist of sorts, to the world at large. Does it always get it right with the choice of Best Film, though? Can't. That it is radiantly dynamic and self-correcting, year after year, is its notable achievement.

By the Academy, we mean the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — of America, with a much wider international membership, lately — that we know for the Oscars it hands out. And that has no Indian equivalent. Why? Never mind; enjoy your pan masala.