This Is Why India Is Falling Behind in the Oscar Race - Anurag Kashyap

Marathi film ‘Gondhal’, directed by Santosh Davakhar, has been selected as India’s official entry for the 99th Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category. The Film Federation of India chose the film from 33 submissions. Against this backdrop, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has voiced strong criticism of India’s Oscar selection process. He questioned why films such as ‘The Lunchbox’ and ‘All We Imagine as Light’, which received international recognition, were not selected as India’s official entries in the past. Kashyap argued that India has often missed opportunities by making what he considers the wrong choices during the selection process.

Kashyap also spoke about ‘Homebound’, which represented India last year and made it to the Oscars’ shortlist of 15 films, calling that development encouraging. Regarding ‘Gondhal’, he said the film’s Oscar campaign would benefit from participation in international film festivals outside India and from securing US distributors. He cautioned that spending heavily on promotion without building an international festival and distribution strategy may not be effective. Kashyap also suggested that the National Film Development Corporation should develop a structured plan to promote acclaimed regional films from platforms such as the International Film Festival of India at international festivals.