NEW DELHI, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Paresh Mokashi, whose Marathi film of "Harishchandrachi Factory" has been selected as India's official entry to the Oscars, is stuck without a visa to the United States, said the film director Thursday.

    The U.S. consulate in Mumbai refused to give him the visa, saying they didn't know him or that his film is going for the Oscars, he said.

    "I don't really blame them. I didn't have a face that was instantly recognizable. They didn't know who I was. And I had no papers to prove that this disoriented looking man had made a film that had been sent to the Oscars," Mokashi said over phone from Mumbai.

    The director had no papers, not even a letter from the Academy Awards committee to prove his eligibility for the visa because he had given all the documents to his producers, UTV.

    "Whatever intimation I received about the Oscar entry from the U.S., I handed over to UTV. But, of course, the U.S. consulate didn't say I was lying. They rightly felt I was not eligible until I had the documents. This was my first encounter for an American visa. And naturally my first trip to the U.S.," said Mokashi.

    "The only time I have been abroad was to London to shoot a part of "Hrishchandrachi Factory". So I was completely unaware of how things work. I don't know how to handle it," added the director, who had to mortgage his property to make the film.

    UTV had to step in to rescue the director, who needed to be in LA from Nov. 2.

    "The U.S. consulate has promised to give me a visa after taking my passport. They said they would grant me a visa. Let's see. They had yet to decide for how long and in what capacity. They seem to have a very thin line dividing the people who want to visit for genuine reasons from those who are wrongly motivated," he said.

    Mokashi hopes to be in the U.S. for 25 days in November to promote the film for the Oscars.

    "I need to understand the situation. I have never been to the Oscars, have no idea of how the Oscars work. I also need to be back for the film's release in India. Then I return to the U.S. to be with the film till the Oscars," he said.