A 15-member panel in Kolkata will view 14 films from around the country in order to choose a film that will represent India at the Oscars in 2022. Shoojit Sircar’s Sardar Udham, which stars Vicky Kaushal, and Amit V. Masurkar’s Sherni, which stars Vidya Balan, are among the 14 films on the list. Many regional films made the cut, including Yogi Babu’s Mandela in Tamil and Martin Prakkat’s Nayattu in Malayalam.
Over the following four days, a jury of 15 members will see 14 films at the Bijoli theatre in Bhowanipore, Kolkata. The jury’s chairman is filmmaker Shaji N Karun. One of the 14 films will be India’s official Oscar submission in 2022.
Meanwhile, Sardar Udham, which released on Amazon Prime Video is the biopic of Sardar Udham Singh, who avenged the Jallianwallah Bagh massacre by assassinating Punjab’s then Lieutenant Governor Michael O’Dwyer. On the other hand, Sherni, by Amit V Masurkar chronicles the life of a forest officer who has to catch a man-eating tigress in a remote village. The film deals with man-animal conflict, as well as corruption with grace.
Meanwhile Nayattu stars Joju George, Nimisha Sajayan and Kunchacko Boban in the lead roles. The film is about three police officers who go on the run after being framed of murder. Meanwhile, Mandela by Madonne Ashwin is a satire about a barber, who is wooed by politicans after it turns out that he is a deciding vote in the elections.
The 94th Academy Award will be held in March 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Last year, Lijo Jose Pellissery’s critically acclaimed Malayalam film Jalikattu was India’s official entry at the Oscars, though it failed to make it to the Best International Feature Film shortlisr. Karishma Dev Dube’s short film Bittu, on the other hand, was nominated in the Best Live Action Short category at the Oscars.
