India’s run at the Oscars

The nomination process for the prestigious award is fairly straight forward or extraordinarily curly depending on the way one looks at it.

It was quite akin to throwing a grenade with its pin pulled into the room when the Awards Editor of the Rotten Tomatoes website, Jacqueline Coley, mentioned Jai Bhim for Best Picture in response to The New York Times film critic, Kyle Buchana’s question on Twitter, “Which Oscar nomination could provoke the biggest reaction from you tomorrow morning?”

The Suriya starrer, directed by T. J. Gnanavel, was released on a streaming platform on November 2, 2021. The legal thriller is based on true events and has been praised for its performances, story and (ahem) message. Jai Bhim, however, was not India’s official submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. That honour went to P.S. Vinothraj’s Koozhangal (Pebbles).

Well, one can argue that Coley had put Jai Bhim in contention for the big one—best picture. The film and Priyadarshan’s Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham, made it to the Oscar nomination shortlist of 276 films. Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham is an epic war film starring Mohanlal. Set in 16th century Kozhikode, it is based on the life of an admiral of the Zamorin fleet.