Gondhal Director Santosh Davakhar Calls Oscar Entry a Representation of Indian Cinema
Santosh Davakhar says Gondhal's selection as India's official Oscar entry represents the wider Indian film industry and brings a major responsibility.
The team behind the Marathi thriller Gondhal is preparing for the next stage of its Oscar campaign after the Film Federation of India named it the country's official entry in the International Feature Film category. Director Santosh Davakhar said the team had spent close to a year readying itself for an international awards push.
"We were confident that the entire Gondhal team had made a good product. For the last year, we have been preparing for this. We were going to attempt the Oscars one way or the other," Davakhar said.
He described the selection as a "great blessing" that also carries weight, noting that appearing before Academy voters means representing the nation. "It's a big responsibility for our team, for Team Gondhal, and for me as a director as well," he said.
The coming months, he added, will involve an intensive effort to introduce the film to Academy members. "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.
Davakhar said he conceived the film with the hope that it would eventually draw the attention of professionals across India's film industry. "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.
He rejected the idea that the selection pits Gondhal against other Indian films. "Gondhal is not defeating anyone. This is a representation of all these films from India," he said, referring to the commercial successes and critically praised titles from different regions that featured in the wider conversation around Indian cinema.
Davakhar pointed to films from the South and to Marathi cinema as evidence of the breadth of Indian filmmaking reflected in the selection process. "This is the representation of all these films. The jury felt that Gondhal can do well internationally. So, it's a complete representation of Indian films," he said.
He thanked the Indian government, the Film Federation of India and the jury that chose the film. "We are really excited, and we are really thankful to the Indian government. We are really thankful to the Film Federation of India and the distinguished jury," he said.
Directed by Davakhar, Gondhal stars Kishor Kadam, Ishita Deshmukh, Yogesh Sohoni, Nishad Bhoir and Anuj Prabhu in lead roles. The film runs for approximately two hours and was picked from among the titles submitted to the Film Federation of India for consideration.