Marathi film Court chosen as India's entry for Oscars

HYDERABAD: Beating a herd of big-ticket productions and box-office successes, the Marathi film 'Court' was on Wednesday selected as India's official entry for the Oscars. Filmed on a shoestring budget of Rs 3.5 crore, this maiden offering by debutant director Chaitanya Tamhane will now represent the country in the Academy's Best Foreign Film category.The awards will be announced in February 2016.
Expressing both joy and "genuine surprise" at the selection, Tamhane, who is currently in Japan, took to Twitter to thank the jury for the decision. "At every juncture of the film's journey we have felt that it has given us more than we could ever imagine. Once again, this has come as a genuine surprise to both Vivek and me. Ever since we started making the film, we kept our expectations low. Especially in this case, since these results tend to be so unpredictable -- it just felt like a wise thing to not expect too much. Now that it has actually happened, we would like to thank the jury for their decision and everyone who has supported the film so far," director Tamhane and producer Vivek Gomber jointly told the media through a release.
'Court' was selected after a marathon screening of over 40 films, spanning a week, in Hyderabad. It looks closely into the dysfunctional judicial system of India, where cases drag on for decades, through the eyes of a folk artist. The film beat other biggies to the game, including the Rs 250-crore 'Bahubali', the Aamir Khan-starrer 'PK' and the hugely popular 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan'.
A socially pertinent storyline apart - packed with charged courtroom scenes and powerful dialogues - what's also believed to have impressed the jury about 28-year-old Tamhane's 'Court' is its fresh yet strong cast. The 116-minute film, which features actors Vira Sathidar, Vivek Gomber, Geetanjali Kulkarni, Pradeep Joshi, Usha Bane and Shirish Pawar, saw more than 1,800 people go through auditions. It is a multi-lingual production in Hindi, Gujarati, English and Marathi.
"The 'Court' has been selected by a 15-member committee constituted for the purpose of choosing India's entry for the Oscars in the best foreign film category," said Supran Sen, secretary-general of the Film Federation of India (FFI) .The jury was headed by noted actor Amol Palekar.
Prior to Wednesday's honour, Tamhane's numero uno creation that opened to raving reviews on April 17 this year, picked up several prestigious prizes from both India and abroad. 'Court' was adjudged the best feature film at the 62nd national awards announced in March and subsequently went on to win as many as 17 international awards. At the Mosiac International South Asian Film Festival, the film was declared as the winner for best cinematography and best fiction feature film.
In July, the film was released in Chicago. It also won the best film award at the Indian film festival, Stuttgart.
"I don't remember the exact cases (on which the film is based) right now. But every trip to the court revealed something very amusing. Some of the stories were stranger than fiction. Had you seen it in a film you would have said this is bad fiction!" shared Tamhane during an interaction with movie buffs in Hyderabad recently.
The debutant, who cut his teeth in filmmaking with a documentary at the age of 19, confessed to have made numerous rounds of courts and reading books by Fali Nariman and Justice V R Krishna Iyer, before scripting 'Court'. Here's wishing the young director and his film, the best of luck!