Mandela, the Tamil political satire starring Yogi Babu and Nayattu, the Malayalam political thriller starring actors Kunchako Boban, Joju George and Nimisha Sajayan, are among the 14 films that are shortlisted for India’s entry to the 2022 Oscars, The Cue reported.
The selection screening is currently under process at Kolkata. A 15-member panel of the Film Federation of India, headed by filmmaker Shaji N Karun as the chairman of the jury, will choose one film that will represent India at the Oscars, in the Best International Feature Film category. The Academy Awards are scheduled to be held in March, 2022. It is to be noted that the film submitted for the Oscars will be eligible for an award only once it finds a place in the nomination list.
Other films that are also in the race include Hindi films Sherni, starring Vidya Balan and the recently released Sardar Udham, starring Vicky Kaushal.
Nayattu, directed by filmmaker Martin Prakkat, features police officers who are on the run and get framed for a crime. Written by civil police officer Shahi Kabir, Silverscreen India’s review called the film a “well-crafted searing critique of the system” that looks at the “state- the giant faceless authority- through the eyes of its mercenaries that ensure its efficient running”.
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Mandela, a political satire, and the directorial debut of Madonne Ashwin revolves around Smile, a Dalit barber who later adopts the name Mandela. Smile’s single vote becomes the deciding one in the polls, that are torn between two caste groups. In an interview with Silverscreen India earlier, the director had said the film first took form as a seven-minute short film called Ward Enn 325.
Sherni, in which a forest officer leads a team of officials to locate and capture a tiger, focuses on man-animal conflict. The film opened to positive reviews. Kaushal’s Sardar Udham, set against the backdrop of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, follows the life of Udham Singh who assassinated Michael O’Dwyer, the man at the helm of affairs in Punjab in April 1919, as per the official synopsis.