Gondal, a Marathi thriller, is India’s official entry to the Oscars 2027, the Film Federation of India (FFI) announced on Friday. Gondal made the official entry beating Hindi juggernaut Dhurandhar and this year’s sleeper hit Hanuman Ansh.
Gondhal, directed by Santosh Dwakhar, will represent the country in the Best International Feature category at the 99th Academy Awards ceremony. The filmmaker won the Silver Peacock Award at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2025.
The jury panel consisted of P Seshadri, Vijay Patkar, Hutu Kanodia, Shanti Kumar, Sandeep Parashar, Sanjay Pati, Sabu Joseph, Anil Thomas, Vivek Vaswani, Bijon Dasgupta, Haasan, Wasan and Tanishtha Chatterjee.
33 films were submitted, of which 14 were in Hindi, four each in Marathi, Telugu and Gujarati, three in Tamil and one each in Malayalam and Nagami. There was also a silent film.
The 99th edition of the Academy Awards is scheduled to be held on March 14, 2027 at the Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles.
Other films that were in controversy are Dhurandhar, Dhurandhar Di Badla, Dug Dug, Haq starring Yami Gautam, Bhamardo, Farhan Akhtar’s 120 Bahadur, Sing Geetam, Tera Mera Naata, Imtiaz Ali’s Mein Vadaan Anunga, Laddu, Oh Phoolan De Babe, Band 2, Oh Phoolan De Dogg! Tighi, Irumudi starring Ram Charan and Janhvi Kapoor, Dorothy starring Ravi Teja, Dorothy directed by Karthik Subraj, Border 2 starring Sunny Deol, Khunta, Gandhi Talks, Bison: Kalamadan, Shape of Momo, Governor, 2020 Delhi, Commando Vinis, Love Story, Mano Vinis, Love Story, Obles, Obles. Egva, Anga, and Hanuman Ansha.
About Dhurandhar and Hanuman part
Directed by Aditya Dhar and headlined by an ensemble cast of Ranveer Singh, Madhavan, Sanjay Dutt and Askhay Khanna, the film became the franchise’s biggest ever with Rs 3,000 crore. The first installment of the film was released on 5 December, followed by the sequel on 19 March.
Dr. Directed by Vishal Chaturvedi, Hanuman Ansh is a biographical devotional drama based on his book Divine Detour: That Changed My Life, which chronicles the life of Neem Karoli Baba. The film stars Shobhinav Satya and Chandan Anand in lead roles.
The film became the third highest grosser of the year after Dhurandhar 2 and Border 2.
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