Jai Bhim and Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simhan are among the 276 films in contention for this year’s Oscars, the Academy revealed on Thursday when it put out its list of films eligible for nominations.
Voting for nominations is set to begin on January 27.
The list, which features Oscar frontrunners like The Power of the Dog, Spencer, House of Gucci, A Hero, Drive My Car, The Lost Daughter, and others, also mentions the actors who are eligible for nods in the performance categories.
Thus, actors Mohanlal, Arjun Sarja, Keerthi Suresh Prabhu, Kalyani Priyadarshan, Sunil Shetty, Innocent, Mukesh, Ganesh Kumar, Mamukkoya, Pranav Mohanlal, Siddique, and Manju Warrier from the Malayalam film Marakkar, are eligible in the acting categories. The Priyadarshan directorial is a fictionalised account of the life of Mohammed Ali/Kunjali Marakkar, a naval commander who fought the Portuguese troops for the Samoothiri (Zamorin), the Hindu monarch of erstwhile Calicut, in the 16th century.
Actors Suriya, Lijomol Jose, Manikandan, Rajisha Vijayan, Prakash Raj, Baby Joshika Maya, Rao Ramesh, Tamilarasan, Guru Somasundaram, Jayaprakash, and MS Baskaran of the Tamil film Jai Bhim are eligible as well. Helmed by filmmaker TJ Gnanavel, Jai Bhim is based on a real-life case fought by now-retired Madras High Court Justice K Chandru, when he was an advocate in the 90s, on behalf of a marginalised community. While the film opened to a largely positive reception, it also became embroiled in some controversies over its content.
Actors Adil Hussain, Sophia Ali, Rish Shah, Deepti Gupta, Ved Sapru, Anita Kalathara, and Manisha Koirala of India Sweets and Spices also feature in the list. Written and directed by Indian American filmmaker Geeta Malik, it revolves around college freshman Alia, who returns home for the summer and discovers secrets and lies in her parents’ past.
Earlier, the Academy had announced the shortlists for 10 categories, namely Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, International Feature Film, Makeup and Hairstyling, Music (Original Score), Music (Original Song), Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film, Sound, and Visual Effects.
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The Indian documentary Writing with Fire, that won two awards at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, made the shortlist in the documentary feature category alongside 14 other films. It is written, directed, and produced by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh.
However, the Tamil film Koozhangal (Pebbles), directed by Vinothraj PS, which was India’s official entry in the International Feature Film category, failed to make the cut. Likewise, Savita Singh’s Sonsi, which had qualified in the Live Action Short Film category, did not find a place on the shortlist.
The 94th Academy Awards will be held on March 27, while the nominations will be announced on February 8.