Marathi movie Gondhal is India’s official entry for Oscars 2027 - The Indian Express

Marathi cinema has secured a place in India’s Oscar campaign this year, with Santosh Davakhar’s Gondhal selected as the country’s official entry for the 99th Academy Awards. The Film Federation of India (FFI) announced the decision on Friday, with the film chosen from a field of 33 submissions for the Best International Feature Film category.

The Marathi thriller, which draws heavily from Maharashtra’s traditional Gondhal ritual and folk-performance tradition, had already received a major festival recognition before its Oscar selection. The film’s director Davakhar won the Silver Peacock for Best Director at the 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in 2025.

Set in rural Maharashtra, Gondhal unfolds over a single night against the backdrop of the traditional midnight Gondhal ritual, a performance that brings together music, dance, mythology and religious elements. The film centres on Suman, a woman trapped in an unhappy marriage to Anand, a wealthy man.

Suman falls in love with Saheba, a Gondhali performer, and begins looking for a way out of her marriage. Her plan draws Anand’s obsessive cousin Sarjerao into a dangerous scheme. What begins as an attempt to escape her circumstances soon turns into a story of murder, deception, desire and survival.

The film stars Ishita Deshmukh as Suman, along with Kishor Kadam, Yogesh Sohoni, Nishad Bhoir and Anuj Prabhu.

The Film Federation of India (FFI) selection committee considered 33 films for India’s official entry to the 99th Academy Awards. The submissions included films in several Indian languages, with Hindi accounting for 14 entries. Marathi, Telugu and Gujarati each had four submissions, while Tamil had three. Malayalam and Nagamese had one entry each, alongside a silent film.

Among the films in contention were Main Vaapas Aaunga, Border 2, Dhurandhar, Dug Dug, Haq, Bhamardo, 120 Bahadur, Sing Geetham, Tera Mera Nata, Ladoo, Ohh My Dog, Balan The Boy, Deool Band 2, Tighi, Peddi, Irumudi, Khoonta, Gandhi Talks, Bison Kalaamadan, Shape of Momo, Governer, 2020 Delhi, Commando Vin Love Story, Ikkis, Pravas, Man Aatale Manaatle, Obsess, Egwa, Angh and Hanuman Ansh, among others.

The jury was chaired by P Sheshadri and included Vijay Patkar, Hutu Kanodia, Shanti Kumar, Sandeep Parashar, Sanjay Patil, Sabu Joseph, Anil Thomas, Vivek Vaswani, Bijon Dasgupta, Haasan, Vasan and Tannishtha Chatterjee.

Gondhal becomes the fourth Marathi-language film to be selected as India’s official Oscar entry. It follows Shwaas (2005), Harishchandrachi Factory (2009) and Court (2015).

India is yet to win the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, a category formerly known as Best Foreign Language Film. Only three Indian submissions have secured nominations in the category — Mehboob Khan’s Mother India, Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay and Ashutosh Gowariker’s Lagaan. Deepa Mehta’s Water, starring John Abraham and Lisa Ray, was also nominated, but represented Canada after being selected as the country’s official entry.

Last year, Neeraj Ghaywan’s Homebound, starring Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa and Janhvi Kapoor, was chosen as India’s official entry but did not make the Academy’s shortlist.

Gondhal will now enter the Academy’s International Feature Film selection process, which will lead to a 15-film shortlist before the final five nominees are announced.

The 99th Academy Awards are scheduled to take place on March 14, 2027, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

Gondhal was released theatrically in November 2025 and had a modest run at the box office.