The race to the Oscars has intensified for director Mira Nair. With the event just three months away, Nair and her team are going all out to ensure the maximum visibility for The Namesake in LA. However, the nomination that the team is working hardest for is Tabu's.

Of course, it is slightly unfortunate that Tabu has entered the Best Supporting Actress category. As Mira explains it, it is because Tabu is part of such a large ensemble film. But according to the director, people have been bowled over by the maturity of Tabu's performance and are stunned by her youth and beauty when they actually end up meeting her. Mira feels that if there is any justice in the award-getting world, then Tabu definitely stands a chance. Irrfan Khan's nomination as Best Supporting Actor in the Spirits Awards was a great boost. What the director would ideally like is for her writer Sooni Taraporewala being remembered at the Oscars. Describing her campaign to ensure high visibility for The Namesake, Nair says that her distributor has been running a modest campaign, screening the film for all the guilds and academy. The DVD of the film has also released to some very good reviews, adding to the film's presence on the airwaves. But Nair is aware that is quite an uphill task to convince the public in America to vote The Namesake while they would be inundated with Oscar campaigns running into millions of dollars for Hollywood stars. But the good news is that for the first time a film with a totally Indian theme is being considered for the mainstream categories and is not being relegated to the best foreign film category.