Marathi cinema has another reason to celebrate. Santosh Davakhar’s Gondhal has been selected as India’s official entry for the 99th Academy Awards, scheduled to be held in March 2027. The Marathi thriller will represent India in the Best International Feature Film category at the Oscars.
The Film Federation of India (FFI) announced the selection in Mumbai on September 18 after its jury reviewed 33 films submitted from across the country. The decision puts a regional story rooted in Maharashtra’s traditions on one of the world’s biggest cinema platforms.
For Davakhar, the Oscar selection comes after a strong run on the festival circuit. Gondhal had already attracted attention at the 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa in 2025, where Davakhar won the Silver Peacock Award for Best Director. The jury praised the film for bringing together tradition, storytelling and suspense.
The film is set in rural Maharashtra and unfolds largely over a single night during the traditional Gondhal ritual, a folk performance that combines music, dance, mythology and religious traditions. Against this cultural setting, Davakhar tells a tense story about relationships, marriage, desire and difficult choices.
At the centre of the story is Suman, a woman trapped in an unhappy marriage. Her life takes a dangerous turn when she becomes involved with Saheba, a Gondhali performer. What follows brings together love, deception, ambition and questions of faith, with the ritual forming the backdrop to the unfolding drama.
Davakhar has written and directed the film, and is also credited with its story, screenplay and dialogues. The cast includes Ishita Deshmukh, Kishor Kadam, Yogesh Sohoni, Suresh Vishwakarma, Nishad Bhoir and Anuj Prabhu. Veteran composer Ilaiyaraaja has scored the music for the film.
The Oscar selection also adds to an already notable awards journey for Gondhal. Apart from the Silver Peacock at IFFI, the film has received recognition at other film festivals. Davakhar’s screenplay for the film also received the Best Screenplay award at the 2026 Filmfare Marathi Awards, while the film’s technical team picked up honours in areas including background score, sound design and cinematography.
The selection process was competitive. According to FFI officials, the jury watched all 33 submitted films over 10 days before arriving at its final choice. The submissions represented several Indian languages, underlining the range of cinema considered for the Oscar entry.
The field included films in Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Gujarati and Tamil, along with entries in Malayalam, Nepali and Konyak and a silent film. Among the better-known titles in contention were Dhurandhar, Border 2 and Main Vaapas Aaunga. Reports also identified Angh and Ikkis alongside Gondhal in the final stages of the selection process.
FFI selection committee chairman P Sheshadri said the choice followed extensive viewing and deliberation. The announcement has since drawn attention in Maharashtra, with political leaders and members of the Marathi film industry congratulating the team.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also welcomed the selection, describing it as a proud moment for Marathi cinema.
The moment is significant for Davakhar, only because Gondhal is heading to the Oscars, but because of the cultural world at the heart of the film. The filmmaker has previously spoken about his personal connection with the Gondhal tradition and how it inspired the story. He said he first chose the ritual as the foundation and then built the narrative around it.
The film was released in theatres in November 2025. Its journey from a Marathi release to an international awards campaign now gives the story another dimension. It also marks the fourth time a Marathi film has been selected as India’s Oscar entry, following earlier selections such as Court.
India’s selection, however, is only the beginning of the Oscar journey. Gondhal will now enter the international competition for the Best International Feature Film award. The film will compete with submissions from other countries before the Academy announces its final nominees.
The 99th Academy Awards are scheduled for March 14, 2027, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. For Marathi cinema, the spotlight is now firmly on Gondhal — a film that takes a distinctly Maharashtra-rooted story to an international audience.
