Koozhangal beats ‘prime’ contenders to be India's official entry to the 94th Oscars

 

Koozhangal beats ‘prime’ contenders to be India's official entry to the 94th Oscars 

Debutant director PS Vinothraj's Tamil film Koozhangal (Pebbles) has beaten the ‘prime’ contenders like Vidya Balan starrer Sherni, Vicky Kaushal starrer Sardar Udham Singh to be selected as India's official entry to the 94th Academy Awards.

Shaji N Karun, the chairperson of the 15-member selection committee, announced the decision while Film Federation of India (FFI) Secretary-General Supran Sen confirmed that the decision was a unanimous one.

The Academy Awards for 2021 will be held on March 27, 2022, in Los Angeles.

Speaking about the selection, Shaji N Karun said, “In the centenary year of Satyajit Ray, it is rather poetic that we had the screening in Kolkata. Ray was the torchbearer of Indian content to the world and we will strive to select a film that epitomizes Indianans and its varied culture".

'Koozhangal', which is based on the relationship between an alcoholic father and his son and follows their journey together to bring back the wife/mother who has gone off to her father’s house, is based on a real incident that took place in director Vinothraj’s family, inspiring him to spin it into a story for his debut film.

The feature has already won the prestigious Tiger Award at the 50th International Film Festival Rotterdam held in Netherlands earlier this year. The film has presented by Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivan and featured music by Yuvan Shankar Raja.

Koozhangal (Pebbles) beat 14 contenders that include ‘prime’ contenders like Amit Masurkar's Vidya Balan-starrer Sherni, Shoojit Sircar's Sardar Udham Singh starring Vicky Kaushal, Sidharth Malhotra starrer Shershah, Pankaj Tripathi starrer Kaagaz and Farhan Akhtar's Toofan from the Bollywood film industry.

The fight was more tough amongst Tamil movie Mandela, Marathi films Aata Vel Zaali, Karkhanisanchi Waari and 'Godavari, Assamese film Bridge, Guajarati film Chhello Show and the Malayalam thriller Nayattu.

Gojri film Laila Aur Satt Geet was also in the competition.