By Atanu Roy
Kolkata, Nov 25(UNI) Malayalam filmmaker Lijo Jose Pellissery's 'Jallikattu' has been chosen as India's Official Entry film for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 93rd Academy Awards.
The award ceremony is scheduled on April 25, 2021, in Los Angeles.
A distinguished team of 14 jury members of Film Federation of India announced the official entry through a virtual press briefing session this evening. Ace director Rahul Rawail headed the jury board this year as Chairman, Jury.
Along with Mr Rawail, music director Prabuddha Banerjee, filmmaker Atanu Ghosh, filmmaker Satarupa Sanyal and other dignitaries acted as jury.
'Jallikattu' has been premiered on 2019 Toronto International Film Festival and also was showcased at the 24th Busan International Film Festival. Lijo Jose Pellissery awarded as the Best Director at the 50th International Film Festival of India (IFFI).
This year there were 27 entries while 24 of them were Hindi. 2 Malayalam films and 1 Odia film also fought for the category entry.
Finally, Malayalam film 'Jalikattu' has been selected as official entry by beating films 'Gulabo Sitabo' by Shoojit Sircar, 'Chaalaang' by Hansal Mehta, 'Shikara' by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, 'Bulbbul' by Anvita Dutt and others.
In 2019, the jury board headed by ace filmmaker Aparna Sen picked 'Gully Boy' by Zoya Akhtar as India's Official Entry for the 2020 Oscars.
Eventually, India still has to win its first honour in the category.
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