Director Lijo Jose Pellissery's critically acclaimed Malayalam film, Jallikattu has been officially announced as India's official entry at the Oscars. Jallikattu will compete in the 'Best International Feature Film' category, along with other best films from several other countries. According to reports, Jallikattu defeated other Indian movies like Gulabo Sitabo (Amitabh Bachchan - Ayushmann Khurrana), Anushka Sharma's Bulbbul, Nawazuddin Siddiqui's Serious Men, Janhvi Kapoor's Gunjan Saxena, Priyanka Chopra - Farhan Akhtar's The Sky is Pink, Vidya Balan's Shakuntala Devi, Deepika Padukone's Chhapaak, and more.
This news has created a huge buzz on social media and congratulatory messages have been pouring in for director Lijo Jose Pellissery and the team of Jallikattu. Director Vetri Maaran's Visaaranai was sent as India's official entry to the Oscars in 2016 and Zoya Akhtar's Gully Boy (starring Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt) was last year's Indian official entry for the Academy Awards. This year, Lijo Jose Pellissery's Jallikattu is the chosen one, and film buffs across the country are elated with this development. The fans of the movie have already started to celebrate the news and the entire social media is abuzz about it.
A Malayalam film has been selected as India's official entry to Oscars after a gap of 9 years, the last one was Salim Ahamed's Abu, Son of Adam (2011). The 93rd Annual Academy Awards is scheduled to take place on April 25, 2021, in Los Angeles, and in the next few months, we will be knowing if the film has been nominated for the final round. Jallikattu was written by S Hareesh and R Jayakumar, based on the book, Maoist (by S Hareesh). Antony Varghese, Chemban Vinod Jose, Sabumon Abdusamad, Santhy Balachandran played the lead roles in this film.
The film received highly positive reviews from the critics and audience for its gritty filmmaking, top-notch visuals (credit: Girish Gangadharan), eerie yet arresting background score (Prashant Pillai), and the impactful performances of the lead actors. Jallikattu managed to give a fulfilling cinematic experience for the viewers. For those who have not seen the film yet, it is streaming on Amazon Prime Video platform. Lijo Jose Pellissery is considered to be one of the best filmmakers in Malayalam cinema and ace director Mani Ratnam recently expressed his admiration for Lijo's movies.
Now, with Jallikattu being selected as India's official entry to the Oscars, the days are going to be bright and happening for the acclaimed filmmaker.