I dont see why does the issue springs up here. A lot of the
movies get selected for the "foreign film category" in the Oscars
like Lagaan..
..very often though it is epic musicals or fantasy adaptations of
bollywood which make big on international arena...like Devdas,
Lagaan, Ashoka...
There are commercial movies made in Bollywood all the time the kind
showing people dancing in discotheques, crime thriller or show
beaituful women all the time.
This kind will prevent one from from taking the films
seriously.However, a very nice set design and simply superb colours
make the film not entirely a joke.unless it is let down by poor
screenplay and acting...I will add "Paheli" to that list. But the
treatment here is slightly different and this is not a "typical"
Bollywood film Paheli, here not only comes as a whiff of fresh air
by being original but also as a tight slap on the face of all such
advocates
Take any aspect of it - direction, acting, dialogues and dialogue
delivery (keeping in mind that it is set a long time back in the
past and also the heavy regional accent), lyrics and music and to a
large extent art direction and cinematography (this film is going
to win a LOT of awards, believe me 
and
deservedly so !). I couldn't find a flaw for the entire length of
the movie. A special mention must be made of the high quality CGI
special effects, which are an integral part of the narrative.And it
is probably the best filmed love story I've seen in a long time
!
