Sep 20, 2026 10:30am IST
Santosh Davakhar on ‘Gondhal’ and India’s Oscar Campaign: ‘We Need to Market the Film’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Director-screenwriter Santosh Davakhar’s Marathi folk thriller “Gondhal” has been selected as India’s official entry for the 2027 Academy Awards aka the Oscars. The Film Federation of India (FFI) chose the film from 33 submissions for eligibility to compete in the Oscars’. The announcement was made on Sep. 18, 2026. Prior to this, Davakhar won the Best Director award last year at the 56th International Film Festival (IFFI) for “Gondhal,” making it the first Marathi film to achieve the distinction.
Davakhar speaks to Variety India about his film’s selection, how it got there and the way forward...
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What does it mean to you to have ‘Gondhal’ represent India at the Oscars?
This is the best film to showcase internationally. The international cinema community always has a particular image of India: that award-worthy Indian films are about poverty or casteism. That’s why I wanted to make a film that shows India’s rich heritage. That’s why I wrote this film.
What was your starting point for ‘Gondhal?’
We have a really rich culture that we want to represent proudly. So I studied Robert William Mackay, the philosopher and thinker. His book, “The Progress Of The Intellect,” is like the bible for filmmaking students. It really helped me write this film. Then I started my research and got the chance to represent our culture.
For a film to break through at the Oscars, especially from an Asian country, it takes a lot of lobbying, right?
We can call it marketing. We need to market it. There are more than 8,000-10,000 voters. We need to reach them. For “Gondhal,” we are also going to bid for Best Film at the Oscars, besides Best International Film. Tatiana Detlofson, the founder and executive strategist of the Los Angeles-based public relations firm MediaPlanT, which is handling PR for our Oscars campaign. She has good experience over the last 30 years. So, that’s great news.
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It felt like ‘Homebound’ had a good chance at the Oscars last year. What are your thoughts on it?
“Sabar Bonda” should have gone to the Oscars last year. I’m a big fan of Neeraj Ghaywan, but I felt there was a problem in the second half. His message was so good, but “Homebound” was stretched. He should have done some more work on the scripting, which never happened.
Hopefully, ‘Gondhal’ will bring us that honor.
I’m very excited. Let’s see. We are going to try our best.
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