Marathi film ‘Gondhal’ is India’s pick for Oscars 2027

Marathi film Gondhal has been chosen as India’s official entry to the Oscars 2027, the Film Federation of India announced on Friday.

Written and directed by Santosh Davakhar, the film is set in rural Maharashtra and plays out over a night of a traditional ritual centred around a newly-wed couple.

The film was chosen as India’s submission for Best International Feature category for the 99th Academy Awards from a list of 33 films, said P Sheshadri, chairperson of the selection committee.

“This year we’ve had four Marathi films, 14 Hindi films, and others films, all the films were good. It’s a happy moment for Indian cinema, for Marathi cinema. This time the official entry is Gondhal,” Sheshadri said at a press conference here.

“We’ve watched 33 films in last ten days of different languages. There were many other good films for which we were debating about. Angh and Ikkis were in top three list apart from Gondhal,” he added.

“Gondhal had its world premiere at the 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa in 2025 in the Indian Panorama segment. Davakhar won the Silver Peacock for Best Director at the festival.

Set against the midnight carnival of the ritualistic Gondhal dance in rural Maharashtra, the movie follows Suman, a woman trapped in an oppressive marriage, who plots a murder and an escape with her forbidden lover, blurring the lines between devotion, deception and fate.

Actor Ishita Deshmukh plays the lead role in the movie which also features Kishor Kadam, Yogesh Sohani, Nishad Bhoir, Anuj Prabhu and Dhru Thoke. Veteran composer Ilaiyaraaja has scored music for the film.

The list of 33 films that were submitted to FFI also included Yami Gautam’s Haq, Aditya Dhar-directed, Dhurandhar and Dhurandhar: The Revenge, Hanuman Ansh, Sunny Deol-fronted Border 2, Imtiaz Ali’s Main Vaapas Aaunga, Ram Charan’s Peddi and Farhan Akhtar’s 120 Bahadur.

Last year, India picked Neeraj Ghaywan’s pandemic drama Homebound for its official submission to the Oscars. However, it could not make it to the final nominations. Gondhal is the fourth Marathi film to be submitted for the Oscars. The earlier titles were Shwaas (2005), Harishchandrachi Factory (2009) and Court (2015).

No Indian film has managed to win in the Best International Feature film segment, which was earlier known as the Best Foreign Film category.

Only three Indian films have received nominations in the category — Mehmood Khan’s Mother India, Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay and Ashutosh Gowarikar’s Lagaan. Deepa Mehta’s Water, starring John Abraham and Lisa Ray, also received a nomination but it was submitted from Canada.

The 99th Oscars will take place on Sunday, March 14, 2027.