Director Santosh Davakhar has reacted to his Marathi thriller ‘Gondhal’ being chosen as India’s official entry for the 2027 Academy Awards. The Movie Federation of India (FFI) selected the movie for the Greatest Worldwide Characteristic Movie class from 33 submissions. Davakhar, who wrote and directed the movie, stated he and his crew had believed in its possibilities even earlier than the choice was introduced.
Santosh Davakhar remembers confidence in ‘Gondhal’
‘Gondhal’ is rooted in Maharashtra’s conventional Gondhal ritual and folk-performance tradition. Reflecting on the movie’s Oscar choice, Davakhar stated the crew had been assured about its potential whereas making and submitting the undertaking.“We had been assured whereas making and submitting the movie that we’ll be India’s official entry for the Oscars. I am proud to symbolize India with my movie,” Davakhar, who additionally wrote the story and screenplay, instructed PTI.The Oscar choice provides to the movie’s pageant recognition. Davakhar gained the Silver Peacock for Greatest Director on the 56th Worldwide Movie Pageant of India (IFFI) in 2025. The jury praised the movie for its dealing with of custom, type and narrative precision.
‘Gondhal’ explores Maharashtra’s people custom
Set in rural Maharashtra, the thriller unfolds over one evening in opposition to the backdrop of the standard Gondhal ritual, a folk-performance type related to music, dance, mythology and non secular traditions. The ritual serves as each a cultural setting and an necessary aspect of the movie’s narrative. The story follows Suman, a newly married girl trapped in an sad marriage, whose relationship with a Gondhali performer units off a sequence of want, deception and violence. The movie explores the intersection of custom, private aspirations, relationships and human vulnerability. The forged contains Ishita Deshmukh, Yogesh Sohoni, Kishor Kadam, Suresh Vishwakarma, Nishad Bhoir, Anuj Prabhu and Vitthal Kale.
‘Gondhal’ chosen from 33 movies for Oscars 2027
The Movie Federation of India chosen ‘Gondhal’ from 33 movies submitted for consideration. The submissions represented a number of Indian languages, together with Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Gujarati, Tamil, Malayalam and Nagamese, whereas a silent movie was additionally among the many entries. Filmmaker P Sheshadri chaired the choice committee. With its choice, ‘Gondhal’ turns into the fourth Marathi-language movie to be chosen as India’s official Oscar entry. Earlier Marathi picks had been ‘Shwaas’ (2005), ‘Harishchandrachi Manufacturing unit’ (2009) and ‘Court docket’ (2015).
‘Gondhal’ heads into the Oscars 2027 course of
The choice as India’s official entry is the primary stage of the Academy Awards journey. ‘Gondhal’ will now enter the Academy’s Worldwide Characteristic Movie course of, which incorporates the shortlist stage earlier than the ultimate nominations are introduced. The 99th Academy Awards are scheduled to happen on March 14, 2027, on the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
Devendra Fadnavis congratulates the ‘Gondhal’ crew
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis additionally congratulated the crew following the movie’s choice. He described the event as a second of satisfaction for Marathi cinema and highlighted the movie’s reference to Maharashtra’s cultural traditions. His feedback adopted the FFI’s announcement of ‘Gondhal’ as India’s official Oscar submission.