Marathi film Gondhal selected as India’s official entry for Oscars 2027

Marathi film Gondhal has been selected as India’s official entry for the 99th Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars 2027, in the Best International Feature Film category. The announcement marks an important milestone for the Marathi film industry, as Gondhal now enters the next stage of the Academy Awards race.

The Film Federation of India (FFI) made the announcement on Friday, September 18, 2026. As per PTI, the chairperson of the selection committee, P Seshadri, revealed that the film was selected for the Oscars 2027 from a list of 33 films.

Reacting to the news, the director of the film, Santosh Davakhar, shared a congratulatory post on his Instagram. He shared a creative featuring the poster of Gondhal, which read, “Hurray! What a news! for Team Gondhal (sic).” Take a look:

It must be noted that the film has been selected for the Best International Feature Film category, formerly known as the Best Foreign Language Film category. Notably, no Indian film has managed to win in this category so far.

Last year, Neeraj Ghaywan’s Homebound was selected as India’s official entry for the Oscars. However, it could not secure a place in the final nominations.

Written and directed by Santosh Davakhar, the film is set in rural Maharashtra, and the story unfolds during a night of a traditional ritual centred around a newlywed couple. It features Suresh Vishwakarma, Kailash Waghmare and Madhavi Juvekar in key roles.

The film was released in theatres on November 14, 2025, but did not perform well at the box office. As per trade tracker Sacnilk, it grossed Rs 90 lakh, while its India net collection stands at Rs 84 lakh. Despite its modest box office collection, the film has garnered an impressive IMDb rating of 8.9 out of 10 from 4.2K registered users.

The 99th Oscars are scheduled for Sunday, March 14, 2027. Meanwhile, the nominations for Oscars 2027 will be announced on January 21, 2027.