Gondhal Becomes India’s Official Entry for Oscars 2027; Here’s What Makes the Marathi Thriller Stand Out

A Marathi film rooted in Maharashtra’s folk traditions will represent India in the next stage of the Academy Awards race. Santosh Davakhar’s Gondhal has been selected as India’s official entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards, scheduled for March 2027.

The Film Federation of India announced the selection on September 18, choosing Gondhal from 33 films submitted for consideration. The decision puts a regional-language thriller at the centre of India’s Oscar campaign and follows the film’s recognition at several film festivals, including the International Film Festival of India.

Importantly, Gondhal is India’s official submission, not yet an Oscar nominee. It must still progress through the Academy’s shortlist and nomination stages before it can become one of the five films nominated in the category.

What Is Gondhal About?

Written and directed by Santosh Davakhar, Gondhal is set in rural Maharashtra against the backdrop of the traditional Gondhal ritual, a folk performance combining music, dance and religious traditions.

The story follows Suman, a woman trapped in an unhappy marriage to the affluent Anand. Her relationship with Saheba, a Gondhali performer, becomes connected to a dangerous plan involving her husband and his cousin Sarjerao.

The film uses the night-long ritual as more than simply a cultural setting. Its atmosphere becomes closely connected with the characters' choices, relationships and the unfolding thriller. The official IFFI material describes the film as a story in which cultural tradition, human desire and suspense intersect.

The principal cast includes Ishita Deshmukh, Kishor Kadam, Yogesh Sohoni, Suresh Vishwakarma, Nishad Bhoir, Anuj Prabhu and Vitthal Kale.

From a Marathi Release to the Oscar Race

One of the more interesting aspects of Gondhal's Oscar journey is that the film is not entering the race solely because of its latest announcement.

The movie had already developed a festival profile before being selected as India's submission.

At the 56th International Film Festival of India in 2025, Santosh Davakhar received the Silver Peacock for Best Director for Gondhal. The IFFI jury praised the film's handling of tradition, form and narrative precision.

That recognition established Davakhar as a filmmaker to watch on the festival circuit before the Oscar selection brought the film wider national attention.

The film has also received recognition at other festivals, including the Bengaluru International Film Festival and Pune International Film Festival, according to established coverage of its Oscar selection.

Why the Film's Cultural Setting Matters

The word “Gondhal” refers to a traditional Maharashtrian ritual and folk-performance tradition. In Davakhar's film, it becomes part of the dramatic architecture rather than an incidental backdrop.

The story is built around a particular social and cultural environment in rural Maharashtra. That gives the film a distinctly regional identity while allowing its central themes marriage, desire, social expectations, faith and personal freedom to operate at a broader human level.

This is also one reason the film's festival recognition provides useful context for its Oscar selection. Its cultural specificity is not separated from the thriller format; the two elements operate together.

A Different Kind of Oscar Submission

India's Oscar submissions have historically come from multiple language industries and cinematic traditions. Gondhal continues that diversity by bringing a Marathi-language story to the International Feature Film race.

The selection is also notable because the film was chosen from 33 submissions, including films from several major Indian language industries. According to reporting on the Film Federation of India's announcement, the submissions included 14 Hindi films, four each in Marathi, Telugu and Gujarati, three Tamil films, and entries in Malayalam and Nagamese, along with a silent film.

That makes the selection process broader than a contest between only mainstream Hindi releases.

The final decision was made by the Film Federation of India's selection committee, chaired by filmmaker P. Seshadri.

Santosh Davakhar's Breakthrough Moment

For Davakhar, the Oscar selection represents a major escalation in the reach of a film that began as a Marathi production.

His earlier IFFI recognition had already brought attention to his filmmaking. The Oscar submission now places his work in a much larger international conversation.

The director has also spoken about the challenge of presenting Indian cinema internationally without reducing the country's identity to familiar stereotypes. In an interview following the Oscar announcement, Davakhar discussed his desire to present India's cultural richness through cinema.

That perspective is particularly relevant to Gondhal, where the cultural environment is integral to the story rather than simply an aesthetic choice.

The Ilaiyaraaja Connection

Another noteworthy element surrounding Gondhal is its music.

The film features music by Ilaiyaraaja, one of the most influential composers in Indian cinema. His involvement adds another layer to the film's cultural and musical identity. The Oscar selection also coincides with the composer marking five decades in Indian cinema.

For a film built around a traditional musical ritual, the presence of a composer with Ilaiyaraaja's extensive experience gives the soundtrack additional significance within the project's overall creative framework.

What Happens to Gondhal Now?

The Oscar announcement does not mean that Gondhal has already secured a nomination.

Under the Academy's current rules, films in the International Feature Film category go through a preliminary voting stage. Fifteen films advance to the shortlist, after which Academy members vote on the shortlisted titles to determine the five nominees.

The Academy's current calendar lists December 15, 2026 for the shortlist announcement and January 21, 2027 for the nominations announcement. The 99th Academy Awards are scheduled for March 14, 2027, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

For Gondhal, the immediate task is therefore to make it through the shortlist process.

The film's selection gives it the official backing of India's designated selection committee, but the Academy's subsequent voting process will determine whether it moves further.

The Celebrity Hour Take

Gondhal's Oscar selection is significant because it demonstrates how a film can take a highly specific regional setting and use it to tell a story with wider themes.

The film is unmistakably rooted in Maharashtra the language, ritual and rural environment are central to its identity. At the same time, the emotional conflict at its centre is not restricted to one region.

That combination may be one of the film's most interesting qualities as it enters the international awards conversation.

The festival recognition already received by Davakhar gives the Oscar campaign some context, while the film's subject provides a clear cultural identity.

But the Academy race is still open. The next meaningful milestone will be the shortlist announcement in December.

For now, the confirmed achievement is straightforward: Santosh Davakhar's Marathi thriller Gondhal has been selected as India's official submission for the 99th Academy Awards' International Feature Film category.

Gondhal at a Glance

Film: Gondhal

Language: Marathi

Director: Santosh Davakhar

Writer: Santosh Davakhar

Key cast: Ishita Deshmukh, Kishor Kadam, Yogesh Sohoni, Suresh Vishwakarma, Nishad Bhoir, Anuj Prabhu and Vitthal Kale

Music: Ilaiyaraaja

India's Oscar category: International Feature Film

Oscar edition: 99th Academy Awards

India's selection announcement: September 18, 2026

Films considered: 33

Current status: India's official submission; not yet an Oscar nominee

Sources & Verification

This report was independently researched using official Government of India/IFFI material concerning Gondhal and Santosh Davakhar's festival recognition, established reporting on the Film Federation of India's September 2026 selection announcement, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' official rules and calendar for the 99th Oscars. The article deliberately distinguishes India's official submission from an eventual Academy shortlist or nomination.