India picks Marathi movie Gondhal for Oscars
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 newlywed 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.
“We had many other films from the other parts of India, but we have some regulations and criteria to send film to Oscars... Actually, the film should represent Indian culture, Indian ethos. In those aspects, Gondhal stands first among the others. Also, the filmmaking, the use of music and songs, the performances and the human content they want to present on the screen. In all those criteria, Gondhal was the best film among the others this year,” he said.
Gondhal is the fourth Marathi film to be submitted for the Oscars. The earlier titles were Shwaas (2005), Harishchandrachi Factory (2009) and Court (2015).
