Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas got a fillip when Time selected it as one of this year's top 10 films.

For the director, the magazine's approval is vindication of his screen version of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel. An effort that cost him about Rs 500 million, making it Hindi cinema's most expensive film ever. Subhash K Jha spoke to the filmmaker:

How did Time's selection of your film as one of the year's best strike you?

As something that needs to be told to the world. Because when Devdas went to Cannes, no one was willing to acknowledge the fact. It was as though some people wanted to see Devdas vanish into oblivion.

Are you still hurt by the scathing reviews for Devdas in the Mumbai press?

I was criticised for making Devdas so ostentatious. But stark and realistic cinema isn't the only real cinema in this country. Devdas isn't a real film. It isn't in the same genre as Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding, where the camera's presence is so understated it almost disappears. You feel you are at a real wedding.

I'm glad the spectrum of Indian cinema now stretches all the way from Mira Nair to Satyajit Ray. He had his way. I have mine.

My Devdas was a tribute to all the mainstream masters, from Mehboob Khan, K Asif and V Shantaram to Raj Kapoor. I am not saying critics shouldn't have criticised my film. But they should have judged the film within the genre and format that I had chosen.

Bimal Roy's Devdas wasn't the only way of filming the Sarat Chandra story. My way is also a way. Another director can make the same story in another way.

In Mumbai, they wrote that audiences walked out of the screenings at Cannes, which was completely untrue. Now, one of the critics who was supposed to hate the film -- Richard Corliss -- has selected Devdas as one of his favourite films of 2002.

I am extremely proud that our cinema is being recognised in the West. I want Indian cinema to get its dignity, not by giving them the kind of films they expect from us, but by making cinema in a way that carries the legacy of the mainstream masters forward.

So far Indian mainstream cinema was ridiculed by the West. Strangely, some critics feel popular cinema is not the right representation of our culture. I don't agree with that. Indians sing and dance at every occasion. So how can a cinema that uses the song-and-dance format be considered a distorted representation of Indian culture?

Do you think the Time selection increases Devdas' chances at the Oscars?

That depends on the mood of the jury. But yes, Richard Corliss' selection does put Devdas in a more noticeable position in the US. The most difficult part of making it into the Oscars shortlist is to get noticed. The Academy will take notice of Corliss' approval of Devdas. Just shows how powerful the word of the press is. It shouldn't be used to crush anyone's dreams.

But it is premature to say whether this would actually translate into an Oscar nomination. We can only keep our fingers crossed.

What are your plans for Devdas vis-a-vis the Oscars?

The full infrastructure is at work in Los Angeles. But we will push the film to optimum only after it gets into the nomination list. Devdas is being released as a mainstream film in LA, with 150, 200 prints. That is extremely important. I'll be in LA probably from January 11. But I will balance my stay in LA with the awards functions in Mumbai. To me our own awards are as important as the Oscars.