"No red carpet this time?" I exclaimed with astonishment at one of my friends while surfing frantically for the channel that was bringing us live the glittering gowns and dazzling jewelry of the women who were proudly taking ahead the Oscar fashion to the next level this year. Later at the beginning of the show, only when host Steve Martin quipped "You probably noticed there was no fancy red carpet tonight. That'll send 'em a message!" did I 'get' what that was supposed to mean.

According to me, there are just two kinds of shows on TV. Those that don't require you to actually invite friends and beg for their company to view these shows 'coz they are better off enjoyed alone. And then there are those that actually 'call for' a company (annoying/irritating/deafening no matter what you might term your friends as) without whose company these shows end up like jazzy American Idol meeting the yucky Fear Factor. Yeah, sometimes it's exactly like that - making no sense whatsoever.

So, just like the last year Oscars and the recent cricket matches, I craved for company to see this year's Oscars. Especially, after the disappointment that invaded me thanks to the cricket finale, I 'had' to engage myself in a show that could appoint my mind and not disappoint my heart. Good show, by the way, men in blue! We did make it to the finals this time and I am sure we 'will' lift the cup next time. So, no blues until then. After all, we made the jealousy 'green' ones eat their own words by beating them to 'death' (clue for clarity: 8 sacked).

If you were wondering what I was supposed to write here and what I happened to write so far, that is what this years Oscars was all about. The 75th Annual Academy Awards presentation held at the Kodak Theater, Los Angeles, was all about sending 'signals' to the elite and the intelligentsia, to the adamant and the ignorant, to the sufferers and the surfers.

Peace messages, poignant acceptance speeches (especially by winners Nicole Kidman and Adrien Brody) and a few perplexes were the hallmarks of this years 'magic night'. And of course, Steve Martin, who was hosting the show for the second time, did try his best to tickle our rather adamant bones that did not completely yield in. His 'bringing down the house' act was not as successful as his recent movie.

Chicago, with a leading 13 nominations this year, won six awards including the Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (Catherine Zeta-Jones), Film Editing, Art Direction, Costume Design and Sound.

The Pianist emerged the underdog winning three coveted trophies for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor (Adrien Brody) and Best Director (Roman Polanski). The latter two awards were really the surprises of the night. Adrien Brody, the youngest actor to receive the award for best performance in a leading role, amazed and moved one and all with a heart touching speech.

The Hours, could manage to get only one award but a big one indeed - Best Actress. Nicole Kidman, after having lost to Halle Berry for her performance in the musical Moulin Rouge last year, did make it this year for a brilliant performance in The Hours.

Salma Hayek's Frida, got the honors for Make Up and Original Score.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, won the trophies for what it best showed and sounded - Visual Effects and Sound Editing.

Legendary Peter 'O Toole, who acted in movies like Lawrence of Arabia, The Ruling Class was given the honorary award.

The other major awards include - Best Supporting Actor (Chris Cooper, Adaptation), Best Original Screenplay (Talk to Her), Best Cinematography (Road to Perdition), Original Song (Lose Yourself, 8 Mile), Best Animated Feature Film (Spirited Away) and Best Foreign Language Film (Nowhere in Africa).

We had Lagaan to watch out for last year and sadly, the musically melancholic Devdas could not make it to the final five this year. So watching the Oscars this year was not as exasperating as it was last year. But I wouldn't mind taking in any amount of it as long as world's second biggest film industry producing a huge quantity of films for once comes up with a quality product. Better yet, can we look upon the regional film industries to prove the point to the world? Is anybody from our Telugu film industry listening? Come on folks, rise and awake, put in your stakes 'coz you guys have what it takes.

Click here to see Sreya Sunil's article on last years Oscar Awards.

Click here to read other articles written by Sreya Sunil