Gully Boy, directed by Zoya Akhtar and starring Ranveer Singh & Alia Bhatt in lead roles, has been selected as India’s official entry for the 92nd Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category by the Film Federation of India. Kalki Koechlin, Vijay Raaz, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Amruta Subhash also featured in the 2019 film.
The film, which is a coming-of-age story about an aspiring street rapper from Dharavi in Mumbai was both a critical and commercial hit. Gully Boy is written by Zoya Akthar and Reema Kagti and produced by Tiger Baby and Excel Entertainment. The film was released on 14 February.
According to reports, 28 films were submitted to be considered by the selection panel to choose one as India’s entry for the Academy Awards. These films included, Andhadhun, Article 15, Badhaai Ho, Bulbul Can Sing, Super Deluxe, Uri, Uyare and Vada Chennai.
Actor and filmmaker Aparna Sen was the chairperson of the committee which made the selection. Zoya’s brother actor and filmmaker Farhan Akhtar tweeted about Gully Boy’s selection and congratulated the team.
Last year, Village Rockstars was selected as India’s official entry to the 91st Academy Awards. The film, which was shot using a hand-held camera within a shoestring budget, was selected from 29 films that were nominated including Raazi, Padmaavat, Hichki, October, Love Sonia, Mahanati, Pihu, Kadvi Hawa, Bioscopewala, Manto, 102 Not out, Padman, Bhayanakam, Ajji, Nude, Gali Guliiyan among others.
Village Rockstars won four awards, including the one for Best Feature, at the 65th National Film Awards last year.
While three Indian films, namely, Mother India (1957), Salaam Bombay (1988) and Lagaan (2001) have been nominated for the Oscars in the Foreign Language Film category over the years, there have been no wins yet.
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