'Gully Boy' India's official entry for Oscars 2020
Zoya Akhtar's Gully Boy has been declared India's official entry for the 92nd Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category. Gully Boy, starring Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt, is Akhtar's fourth feature and traces the life of working-class rapper Murad. Reportedly, the film was picked from among 28 others considered for the Oscars 2020, to be held on February 9 next year.
Committee chaired by Aparna Sen considered 28 films for Oscars
According to The Times of India, films including AndhaDhun, Article 15, Badhaai Ho, Badla, Kesari, Dear Comrade, Super Deluxe, etc. were among the 28 films being considered by a committee chaired by actor-turned-filmmaker Aparna Sen. Other jury members included directors Pratim D Gupta and Ashoke Viswanathan, editor Sujay Dutta Ray, scriptwriter Padmanabha Dasgupta, and composer Debojyoti Mishra. Reportedly, the jury unanimously picked Gully Boy.
'Gully Boy' was a critical and commercial success
Gully Boy was a critical and commercial success. The February release was among this year's top earners, grossing Rs. 165.58 crore in India and Rs. 72.58 crore overseas, (Rs 238.16 crore worldwide). The film was also appreciated at the Berlin Film Festival where it had its world premiere. It stars Singh and Siddhant Chaturvedi as budding street rappers Murad and MC Sher.
Last year's Oscars entry 'Village Rockstars' wasn't nominated
In 2018, Rima Das' Village Rockstars was India's official entry to the Oscars. However, it wasn't nominated among the top nine films in the Best Foreign Film category. Last year, the India-based documentary Period. End of Sentence. won Best Documentary Short Subject. Thus far, only three Indian films have been nominated for Oscars: Mother India (1957), Salaam Bombay! (1988), and Ashutosh Gowariker's Lagaan (2001).
