Tamil film ‘Koozhangal’ India’s official entry to Oscars

Tamil director PS Vinothraj’s Koozhangal (Pebbles) will represent India in the international feature film category at the 94th Academy Awards, or the Oscars as they are better known.

The announcement was made today by Shaji N Karun, the chairperson of the 15-member selection committee. The decision was unanimous, said FFI Secretary General Supran Sen.

The committee is set up by the Film Federation of India to pick the movie that will best represent Indian cinema at the Oscars. The Academy Awards for 2021 will be held on March 27, 2022, in Los Angeles.

Vinothraj’s accomplished debut feature won the prestigious Tiger Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam earlier this year. The movie follows a father and his son as they make their way to their mother’s house.

“I am really, really happy,” 31-year-old Vinothraj told Scroll.in. “We have made this film with a lot of love.”

Fourteen films were shortlisted for consideration this year. These included Amit Masurkar’s human-animal conflict drama Sherni, Shoojit Sircar’s biopic Sardar Udham, the Yogi Babu-led Tamil political satire Mandela, and Martin Prakkat’s Malayalam film Nayattu.

Among the films that India has sent to the Oscars in the past decade are Lijo Jose Pellissery’s Jallikattu, Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy, Rima Das’s Village Rockstars, Amit Masurkar’s Newton, Vetri Maaran’s Visaaranai, Chaitanya Tamhane’s Court and Geethu Mohandas’s Liar’s Dice._Agencies