Can Lagaan pull it off is the question that all India is asking.

Star Movies is banking on the fact that it is the only channel that will show the award ceremony live on 25 March at 6:30 am. The channel got the marketing ball rolling by sending feelers to media organisations as early as late January. The release kit came in a box similar in the shape to the statue. The taglines for the promotion were "Only one movie channel has it live!" and "Will your brand be there?"

The channel has reason to be optimistic about ratings as Bollywood buffs could tune in to see whether India's great hope Lagaan causes an upset in the Foreign Language Film category. It is the opinion of indiantelevision.com that Lagaan may just sneak in if favourites Amelie from France and No Man's Land from Bosnia split the vote.

A Hollywood film with the Bollywood feel. Moulin Rouge is in the reckoning for a Best Picture Oscar.

Channel programming activity began on 12 February, when the Oscar Nominations Special was aired. From 1 March, the channel started the programme initiative Oscar Fever. Here 24 films are showcased that have won or been nominated for the awards in previous years.

Elaborating on the promotional strategy, Raj Nayak, executive VP, Ad Sales, Star Network said: "We are doing an extensive print campaign for Oscar Fever every single day through the month in all the four metros (Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai) and Bangalore. The event is being promoted extensively on radio, Internet, on air, PR, direct mailers to advertisers and media planners, etc. Besides this, the event is being promoted heavily on the Star Network, including on Star Plus."

Apart from the slick on-air promo campaign which talks about "Will Lagaan achieve Oscar glory?"

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and famous celebrities from Bollywood and the cricketing world wishing Lagaan All the best, there are other innovative promotions around the Oscars within popular shows across Star Plus, Star Gold and Star News, Nayak reveals.

All its sponsorship slots have already been sold out. Asian Paints is the Presenting Sponsor and there are eight Associate Sponsors (Bajaj - Bajaj Pulser, Hyundai - Sonata, Beverage conglomerate Pepsi, Tropicana, Diakin - Airconditioners, Parle - Hide & Seek, Seagrams Royal Stag and the award-winning airline Emirates).

Queried as to why yesterday's live telecast (Monday, 11 March, at 6:30 am, with repeats at 6 pm and 10 pm) of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards was on Star World rather than Star

French film Amelie is the odds-on favourite for the Best Foreign Film Oscar.

Movies, Raj Nayak noted that the awards lean more towards television. Just five awards concern the movies, he said. Also some shows that were nominated like Friends air on Star World and so the programme initiative suited the channel better, Nayak pointed out.

Regarding arch rival HBO's Oscar movie marathon, Nayak said that the question of comparison did not arise as Star Movies has better titles. He is also banking on live coverage on 25 March to bolster ratings and give the channel the edge regarding ad revenues.

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As far as online coverage is concerned Nayak made the following remarks: "We will have a specially designed microsite
namely www.indya.com/oscars. We also run a contest around the whole event where the consumer gets to guess the winners and answer a small trivia on Oscars."

"They can also post a message to the Lagaan team on the website. The site also offers a chat room and downloads of wallpapers and screensavers."