``Training Day''... a rare portrait.

THIS TIME, he is a tough and corrupt police officer in Los Angeles. An anti-hero, far removed from the lover boy in ``Mississippi Masala'' or the kind lawyer in ``Philadelphia,'' Denzel Washington proves effortlessly that the most important sign of a good actor is the ability to do any part, to wear just about any mask.

As the ruthless cop in ``Training Day,'' Washington breaks the very narcotics laws that he is empowered to preserve and protect. In fact, the film by itself is not very absorbing, and the only reason anyone would want to see ``Training Day'' is to catch an extremely rare glimpse of Washington playing a bad guy. He takes on a different kind of a role in this movie -- in contrast to similarly intense works like ``The Siege,'' ``The Bone Collector'' and ``The Hurricane'' -- and he steals the show. Absolutely.

Yet, Washington, who has been nominated for the Best Actor Oscar in ``Training Day,'' may not get the trophy on the night of March 24. History could well repeat itself.

In 1999, all his friends were sure that Washington would carry the day by clinching the Oscar for the Best Actor. But he did not. His film, ``The Hurricane,'' was criticised -- in the weeks preceding the Academy Awards -- for glossing over the unsavoury facts about real-life boxer Rubin Carter on whom the movie was based.

Washington's friends were perplexed: why must the actor be penalised for something the director or the script-writer might have been responsible? They found their answer in a terrible truth: Hollywood was not as colour blind as it pretended to be.

‘‘John Q’’... Washington’s latest.

After all, the Academy in all its 70-odd-year history has given the statuette for the top acting honours to a black only once: Sidney Poitier for the 1963 ``Lilies of the Field.'' Five other black actors and actresses have won Oscars, but for supporting roles.

Washington may not admit to it, but there was a change in the way he looked at the world after the ``The Hurricane'' destroyed his self-esteem.

Critics aver that an indication of this transformation can be best seen in ``Training Day,'' where the African-American actor is a character he has never been before. He is malevolent, greedy and brutal. He is not just a crazy guy. He is almost sinister in what is seen as a significant shift after his disappointment.

``I definitely deal with my emotions through my roles,'' he told an interviewer recently. ``I work through the things that bother me, and let it all out on the screen. I just channel those emotions, because they do build up inside, and that is how you let it all go so that they do not eat you up. And it is much more productive than releasing it in other ways.''

But what happens if Washington fails again this March 24? With three blacks sharing the Oscar nominations this time (Will Smith in ``Ali'' and Halle Berry in ``Monster's Ball'' being the other two), Hollywood's race question is once again in sharp focus.

Adding to the U.S. film industry's present discomfort are devastating statements from people like Julia Roberts. She described Washington as the best in his generation, and stated that he should have been sitting on three Oscars. ``That might not be enough. Have you seen `Malcolm X' and `Philadelphia'? I can go on. I cannot absorb living in a world where I have an Oscar for Best Actress and Denzel does not have one for Best Actor.''

Washington's mentor, Poitier, is even more hard hitting. He regretted that some things had not changed, and although a ``nod'' was important, it was certainly not the same as actually winning the prize.

Hollywood and the Academy are not just in a soup, but are in a broth. With Washington's most serious rival, Russell Crowe (``A Beautiful Mind''), now in the midst of a controversy similar to the one that the black actor faced in 1999, the 5,700 voting members must be having nightmares.

``A Beautiful Mind'', which tells the story of the mathematics genius, John Nash (who is still living), has been lambasted for conveying half-truths. What is more, Nash's alleged anti-Jew remarks are missing in the movie.

It now remains to be seen if Crowe's performance is powerful enough to overshadow what is being perceived as ``inaccuracies'' in the celluloid work.

A director does have the artistic liberty to show what he wants to, and not to show what he does not want to. So, for me both ``The Hurricane'' and ``A Beautiful Mind'' do not suffer from the kind of flaws that are being attributed to them.

Having said that, I think Washington is much more impressive than Crowe is on the screen. Indeed, Washington has always been formidable. Look at his 20-year-old career, and what one sees is an actor who is strong, focussed and always in control. There have been very few of his ilk who were as multifaceted and multi-layered as Washington is. The rebellious slave in ``Glory,'' the pioneering coach in ``Remember the Titans'' and in just about every movie that one has watched him, he undoubtedly comes off as a great artiste.

Hollywood, I am sure, is well aware of this. In fact, long ago, it had recognised his talent. Son of a minister and a beautician, young Denzel thought that he would become a doctor. His life led him precisely to that: but he wore a white gown and went on rounds in hospital wards on the sets of a television serial which hit the screen in 1982. It was enormously appealing, and the medical drama, ``St. Elsewhere,'' attracted Hollywood's attention. It offered him a plethora of roles.

Things may have been different to that extent: Washington did not have to -- like Poitier -- prove to the world that blacks were no less human than the rest. But Washington, despite earning a fabulous salary like other white actors, often finds that he can only qualify for a limited range of roles. He cannot do a ``Gladiator'' or an ``Insider.'' Moreover, he understands that most parts are disproportionately written for white actors. So, you will always find a Cruise or a Hanks ahead of Washington.

Sometimes, Washington is in a picture only because friends want him to be. Roberts insisted on Washington being her co-star in ``The Pelican Brief.'' And he was. But he never kissed her on the screen. Roberts was not responsible for that. She had to explain for years why the kiss did not materialise. ``Denzel was responsible for deleting inter-racial love scenes,'' she once said. Washington agrees, and says that American viewers are not ready for that kind of thing.

I am sure that there are any number of mixed romances happening in the U.S. today. Yet, Hollywood, it appears, is just not ready to accept this.

Will it, at least, honour a black this spring and put an end to some of the prejudices?

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