Marathi filmmaker Santosh Davakhar has spoken about his film ‘Gondhal’, which has now been chosen as India’s official submission for the 99th Academy Awards. Built around the traditional Gondhal folk ritual practised in Maharashtra, the film delves into themes of faith, regional culture and everyday social realities, offering a distinctly local perspective on the global stage.
A proud moment for Marathi cinema
‘Gondhal’s selection is being seen as a landmark achievement for regional Indian cinema, having been chosen over 32 other contenders, including the big-ticket ‘Dhurandhar’. Speaking about the honour with India Today, Santosh Davakhar said his team had already begun laying the groundwork for an Oscar push even before the official announcement came in.He said, “I’m feeling really proud. We had already started our Oscar campaign. By any means, we were convinced that we would take our film to the Oscars this year. So, this is really great news. We are extremely thankful to the Government of India, the Federation of India and the FFI jury for selecting ‘Gondhal’ as India’s official entry. It’s a very proud feeling for the entire team.”Santosh Davakhar also drew on his past exposure to global film festivals to explain what motivated him to make ‘Gondhal’. He added, “We have had some previous experience with international audiences. In 2016, I had the opportunity to take a film to an international platform, Cannes, and I understood how international audiences perceive India. There is a certain perception of India internationally, especially around issues like poverty and casteism. Personally, I feel that we have a really rich culture. India is a diverse country. We have a rich culture and heritage, and we should represent India through good cinema. That is why I decided to make a film around ‘Gondhal’.”
Filmmaker says they are already working on the Oscar push
Interestingly, Davakhar revealed that he learned about his film’s selection not through an official channel, but via news reports. By that point, however, his team had already begun preparing for the road ahead in Los Angeles.He shared, “I got to know from the media. We had already started preparing for Los Angeles. We have hired a PR team in Los Angeles because they have very good experience. They have already worked on around 27 nominations over the previous 20 years. We have also hired a Finland-based team for social media, so we are already working on the campaign.”He added that the responsibility of representing an entire country at the Oscars is not lost on him or his team. “We understand the responsibility that comes with representing India. Our entire team will put in all our efforts to take the film to the Oscars. Getting there is a big task, and reaching the final stage would be an even bigger achievement. We are fully prepared for it.”
Oscar campaign to kick off next month
Asked about the timeline for the campaign, Santosh Davakhar confirmed that promotions would begin shortly. “From next month. We are starting next month,” he said.
The complete list of contenders
‘Gondhal’ emerged as India’s pick from a competitive pool of 33 films submitted for consideration this year. The other contenders included ‘Main Vaapas Aaunga’, ‘Border 2’, the ‘Dhurandhar’ franchise, ‘Dug Dug’, ‘Haq’, ‘Bhamardo’, ‘120 Bahadur’, ‘Sing Geetham’, ‘Tera Mera Nata’, ‘Ladoo’, ‘Ohh My Dog’, ‘Balan The Boy’, ‘Deool Band 2’, ‘Tighi’, ‘Peddi’, ‘Irumudi’, ‘Dorothy’, ‘Khoonta’, ‘Gandhi Talks’, ‘Bison Kalaamadan’, ‘Shape of Momo’, ‘Governer’, ‘2020 Delhi’, ‘Commando Vin Love Story’, ‘Ikkis’, ‘Pravas’, ‘Man Aatale Manaatle’, ‘Obsess’, ‘Egwa’, ‘Angh’ and ‘Hanuman Ansh’.