Oscar Entry Defense
Gondhal Director Defends India Oscar Entry After Anurag Kashyap Criticism
Anonymous
Santosh Davakhar, director of Gondhal, India’s official Oscar entry, has defended the film after Anurag Kashyap criticized the country’s selection process and said India often chooses the “wrong films.” Davakhar said he respects Kashyap but noted that the filmmaker had not yet watched Gondhal after being introduced to it during a flight, urging audiences to see the psychological thriller before judging its selection. He described the film as a Marathi cultural story with international appeal, made primarily for theatrical release, and said the team understood the responsibility of representing India. Kashyap later acknowledged that he had not seen the film and suggested it build international exposure through film festivals and potential U.S. distribution to strengthen its Oscar campaign.
Key Points
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Anurag Kashyap cited The Lunchbox and All We Imagine As Light as films he believed India could have selected instead, saying, “Even if we did have the chance to select the right ones ... we messed it up.”
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Kashyap said India’s Oscar campaigns would be stronger if selected films had screened at an international festival outside India or secured American distribution before the eligibility deadline.
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Kashyap recommended that Gondhal first seek exposure through international festivals, arguing that spending money on screenings or advertising without that exposure could be wasteful.
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He also suggested that the National Film Development Corporation could help send regional winners from the International Film Festival of India to international festivals, noting that Gondhal had won IFFI’s Silver Peacock.
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India’s lack of recent Oscar progress was placed in a longer context: no Indian submission since Lagaan in 2001 has reached the Best International Feature Film shortlist, according to the report.
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