Baahubali and Srimanthudu miss the Oscar race
Debutant Chaitanya Tamhane’s National award-winning Marathi film “Court”, a poignant commentary on India’s judicial system, has been selected to officially represent the country in the Best Foreign Film category at the 88th Oscars next year.
“‘Court’ has been selected as the official entry to the Oscars. There were 30 films in the running this year,” Supran Sen, secretary general of the Film Federation of India (FFI),said today.
Tamhane’s independent, low-budget but gripping drama recieved widespread praise from the critics, who hailed it as one of the best movies to emerge out of the country in recent times.
Film’s actress Geetanjali Kulkarni called the selection a “huge honour”.
“It is an incredible and unbelievable achievement. We wanted it so we are very happy. It is a team of newcomers and first time directors and producers. It is really encouraging and promising.
“It feels good that our first film got unanimous praise nationally and internationally. It is also a good sign that a National award win was considered while selecting a movie for Oscars,” Geetanjali told.
“Court” was also named the Best Picture at the National film awards this year, besides winning 17 international honours after being premiered at the Venice International Film Festival last year.