The makers of Gondhal are gearing up for an intensive campaign to introduce the film to members of the Academy after it was announced as India’s official Oscar entry for the 99th Academy Awards in 2027.
The film is produced by Diksha Davakhar under the banner of Davakhar Films. The makers of Gondhal have announced special paid previews at select theatres in India starting October 10.
Marathi film Gondhal is directed by Santosh Davakhar and stars Kishor Kadam, Ishita Deshmukh, Yogesh Sohoni, Nishad Bhoir and Anuj Prabhu in the lead roles. “We were confident that the entire Gondhal team had made a good product. The director also spoke about the way ‘Gondhal’ was conceived, saying he wanted the film to eventually attract the attention of people across India’s film industry.
Speaking to ANI about the film’s selection as India’s official entry, director-producer Santosh Davakhar said the team had always been confident in the product they had created. We were going to attempt the Oscars one way or the other,” he said. The months ahead will involve an intensive campaign to introduce the film to members of the Academy.“The next few months are going to be full of hard work, as we will need to gain at least 6,000 to 7,000 votes,” he said, according to the director. “I made the film in a way that there will come a time when all the technicians in India who are connected to the film line from some angle, everyone will look for this film,” he said. Rather than viewing the Oscar selection as a competition against other Indian films, the director said he sees ‘Gondhal’ as a representation of the wider Indian film industry. The months ahead will involve an intensive campaign to introduce the film to members of the Academy, according to the director. “The next few months are going to be full of hard work, as we will need to gain at least 6,000 to 7,000 votes,” he said.
For the last year, we have been preparing for this.
