Malayalam film ‘Jallikattu’ is India’s official entry for 93rd Academy Awards

Malayalam film 'Jallikattu' becomes India's official entry at the Oscar Award Ceremony 2021. The 2019 released film by Lijo Jose Pellissery has been entered in the International Feature Film Category, the Film Federation of India declared.

‘Jallikattu’, winner of several awards at film festivals across the country, stars Antony Varghese, Chemban Vinod Jose, Santhy Balachandran, Sabumon Abdusamad and Jaffar Idukki. The film is based on a short story by the writer S Hareesh titled ‘Maoist’.

It premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and was also screened at the Busan festival. Jallikattu, taking its name from the traditional sport of bull taming, is set in a small village and tells the story of a butcher who loses control of the animal at a ritual slaughter.

‘Jallikattu’ was picked from a list of 27 films that included ‘Chhapaak’, ‘The Disciple’, ‘Shakumtala Devi’, ‘Chhalaang’, ‘Gulabo Sitabo’, ‘The Sky Is Pink’ and ‘Eeb Allay Ooo!’.

 "It is a film that really brings out the raw problems which are there in human beings, that is we are worse than animals," filmmaker Rahul Rawail, Chairman, Jury Board, Film Federation of India, told reporters in an online press conference.

The Oscars renamed the Best International Feature Film category last year - it was previously called Best Foreign Language Film.

India has had little luck with the Oscar entries for the last few years – ‘Gully Boy’, ‘Village Rockstars’, ‘Newton’, ‘Visaranani’ and previous entries have all failed to make the Oscar shortlist. The only Indian films to have been nominated for an Oscar so far have been ‘Mother India’, ‘Salaam Bombay’ and ‘Lagaan’.

The 93rd Academy Awards is scheduled for April 25, 2021.