Entertainment / Malayalam film Jallikattu selected as India's official entry for Oscars 2021

Entertainment Desk: The Malayalam film 'Jallikattu', directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery has been selected as India's official entry to the Oscars 2021.

Starring Antony Varghese, Chemban Vinod Jose, Sabumon Abdusamad, 'Jallikettu' is based on a short story, titled 'Maoist', written by Hareesh S, who also adapted the screenplay along with R. Jayakumar. The film that released in 2019 to rave critic reviews and box office success will now be in the running to secure a nomination in the 'Best International Feature Film' category.

According to reports, the film beat out the Amitabh Bachchan-Ayushmann Khurranan starrer 'Gulabo Sitabo', Anushka Sharma's production 'Bulbbul', Priyanka Chopra starrer 'The Sky is Pink', Nawazuddin Siddiqui's 'Serious Men' and even the Janhvi Kapoor starrer 'Gunjan Saxena'.

The film was chosen out of 27 films that included 'The Disciple', 'Shakuntala Devi', 'Shikara', 'Chhapaak', 'AK vs AK', 'Bhonsle', 'Chhalaang', 'Eeb Allay Ooo!', 'Check Post', 'Atkan Chatkan', 'Kaamyaab', 'Chintu ka Birthday' and 'Bittersweet'.

Last year, Zoya Akhtar’s commercially successful 'Gully Boy', was sent as India’s official entry to the 92nd Academy Awards. The film, however, did not make the cut among the 91 films that were in the race. The South Korea blockbuster, 'Parasite' came out triumphant in the International Feature Film category and created history by going on to become the first non-English film to also win Best Picture.

This is the second year the award will be given under the name of ‘Best International Feature Film’, after a change in April 2019 from ‘Foreign-Language Film’.

Films in this category are produced outside the US with a predominantly non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

In a bid towards a more 'inclusive' awards show, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) invited Bollywood stars Alia Bhatt, Hrithik Roshan and costume designer Neeta Lulla to join the 819 artistes and executives on their pannel.

Other prominent Indian names to receiveinvitations were casting director Nandini Shrikent, documentary filmmakers Nishtha Jain and Amit Madheshiya, visual effects supervisors Vishal Anand and Sandeep Kamal.

As members, these artists will get to vote across categories for the upcoming Academy Awards.

The 93rd Academy Awards is set to take place on April 25, 2021.

The Award ceremony was among the many things postponed owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The show was originally set to be held on February 28, before both the ceremony and eligibility period were postponed for two months, citing delays in film releases and the closing of theatres owing to the pandemic.

For the film to be considered in the Oscar race, it should have been released in their respective countries between the expanded dates of October 1, 2019, and December 31, 2020, contrary to the previous time frame of October-September.

The shortlist of 10 will be unveiled on February 9, 2021.

In another change to the eligibility rules, films that had a previously planned theatrical release but are/were initially made available through a commercial SVoD service may now qualify for consideration. This came in as a welcomed change, considering that standard rules made a theatrical release compulsory.