Malayalam film 'Jallikattu' India's official entry for the Oscars

New Delhi: Lijo Jose Pellissery's Jallikattu has been chosen as the country's official entry for the 2021 Oscars in the best foreign language film category. This 2019 Malayalam film tells the story of a massive buffalo and the village that gets involved in hunting it. It's an adaptation of the short story Maoist by S Hareesh, who recently won the JCB Prize for Literature for his novel Moustache.

Jallikattu was chosen out of 27 films. Some of the other movies in the race to be India's entry for the Oscars 2021 were The Disciple, Shakuntala Devi, Shikara, Gunjan Saxena, Chhapaak, AK vs AK, Gulabo Sitabo, Bhonsle, Chhalaang, Eeb Allay Ooo!, Check Post, Atkan Chatkan, Serious Men, Bulbbul, Kaamyaab, The Sky is Pink, Chintu ka Birthday and Bittersweet. Sharing the reason behind choosing Jallikattu, Rahul Rawail, Chairman, Jury Board – Film Federation Of India, heaped praise on the film's theme, production quality and Lijo Jose Pellissery's direction. He said, "It is a film which really brings out the raw side of human beings, that we are worse than animals. Human instincts are worse than animals. The film has been depicted wonderfully. It's a production that all of us should be proud of. The film has been shot very well. The emotions, which come out, moved all of us. Lijo is an extremely competent director.

So, that's why we zeroed in on Jallikattu."

Jallikattu, starring Antony Varghese, Chemban Vinod Jose, Sabumon Abdusamad and Santhy Balachandran, received rave reviews upon its release. The movie had its world premiere at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, following which it was also screened at the 24th Busan International Film Festival. Jallikattu director Lijo Jose Pellissery won Best Director award at the 50th International Film Festival of India (IFFI). Jallikattu also bagged two awards, best director and best sound mixing, at the 50th Kerala State Film Awards earlier this year.

Last year, Zoya Akhtar's Gully Boy was India's official entry to the Oscars, but the film did not get shortlisted for nominations. The last Indian film to get nominated in the category, earlier known as the Best Foreign Language Film, was Lagaan in 2002.