India's Oscar entry Gully Boy, starring Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt, has failed to make it to the shortlist of 10 hopefuls for Best Foreign Film. Gully Boy, directed by Zoya Akhtar, chronicles the life and career of an aspiring rapper from the mean streets of Mumbai and is based on real-life rappers Divine and Naezy. It released to rave reviews and high ticket sales last February. Gully Boy co-stars Kalki Koechlin, Vijay Raaz, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Vijay Varma in pivotal roles. The last Indian film to make it to the Oscar nominees was Lagaan, starring Aamir Khan. Only two other films have been nominated for the Best Foreign Film Oscar - Mother India and Salaam Bombay! Last year's Oscar entry was the National Award-winning Assamese film Village Rockstars.
The international films which have been shortlisted for the Best Foreign Film Oscar are:
South Korea - Parasite
Russia - Beanpole
Czech Republic - The Painted Bird
Estonia - Truth And Justice
France - Les Misérables
Hungary - Those Who Remained
North Macedonia - Honeyland
Poland - Corpus Christi
Senegal - Atlantics
Spain - Pain and Glory
Parasite, Pain And Glory and Les Miserables are also nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Golden Globes this year; in addition, Parasite has a directing nomination for Bong Joon-ho and Antonio Banderas is nominated for Best Actor for his performance in Pain And Glory.
When Gully Boy was announced as India's Oscar entry, Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt said that they were "thrilled." The stars issued similar statements on social media, in which they expressed gratitude towards the Film Federation of India and the members of the jury including Aparna Sen, Supran Sen and Anindya Dasgupta for zeroing in on Gully Boy from a list of 27 films. "We are so thrilled that Gully Boy has been selected as India's official entry to the 92nd Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category. Thank you to the Film Federation of India, Aparna Sen, Supran Sen, Anindya Dasgupta, members of the jury and big congratulations to our spectacular cast and crew," the statement read.
The next round of nominations, which will select five international films for the category, will be announced on January 13. The 92nd Oscars will be held on February 9 in Los Angeles, California.
