Four Telugu films, one Marathi Oscar entry
Santosh Davakhar’s Gondhal was selected from 33 submissions for India’s International Feature Film entry at the 99th Academy Awards. Telugu cinema made the field; the Oscar ticket went elsewhere.
Gondhal was selected from 33 submissions for India’s International Feature Film entry at the 99th Academy Awards.
Marathi film Gondhal has been selected as India’s official submission in the International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards, the Film Federation of India announced on September 18, 2026. The ceremony is scheduled for March 14, 2027.
Written and directed by Santosh Davakhar, the film is set in rural Maharashtra and uses the traditional Gondhal ritual as its setting. It was chosen from 33 submissions by a committee chaired by filmmaker P Sheshadri. Sheshadri said the panel had watched all 33 films over 10 days and identified Gondhal, Angh and Ikkis among its leading choices.
The field included four Telugu submissions, with Peddi and Irumudi among the films named in reports. They did not get the final selection. That is not a verdict on Telugu cinema; it is simply the decision recorded by the FFI. The Academy’s formal acceptance of Gondhal and its eligibility paperwork have not been independently confirmed in the material reviewed. Even the Oscar campaign, Davakhar says, will require marketing to reach voters. The glamour begins where the paperwork is still catching up.