A still from 2018
Malayalam film 2018 is India official entry for the Oscars, reported news agency PTI. 2018, subtitled Everyone Is A Hero, is a survival drama about the floods that devastated Kerala in 2018. Directed by Jude Anthany Joseph, the film stars Tovino Thomas, Kunchacko Boban, Asif Ali, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Narain and Lal. 2018 released in May this year and is both a critical and box office hit – it is the highest earning Malayalam film of all time and one of Indian cinema’s top earners this year.
Addressing a press conference, filmmaker and chairman of the 16-member selection committee Girish Kasaravalli said that the Malayalam movie had been picked for its theme of the effects of climate change, reported PTI. As many as 22 films including The Kerala Story, Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway, Telugu film Balagam, Marathi films Vaalvi and Baaplyok and August 16, 1947 (Tamil) were considered..
2018 will compete for the Best International Feature Film Oscar, a category that was previously titled Best Foreign Film.
No Indian entry has been nominated for Best International Feature Film at the Oscars since Lagaan in 2002. Only two other films have previously made it to final five – Mother India, starring Nargis, and Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay!
India’s official entry for the Oscars last year was Chhello Show, which didn’t make the nominees slate. However, it was a landmark year for Indian cinema with Naatu Naatu from RRR winning Best Original Song and The Elephant Whisperers winning Best Documentary Short Subject. Shaunak Sen’s All That Breathes was nominated for Best Documentary Feature but didn’t win.
The very first Indian winner of an Oscar was Bhanu Athaiya who won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for her work in Gandhi. Legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray received a Lifetime Achievement Oscar in 1992. In 2009, Slumdog Millionaire won several awards, among the Best Original Song for Jai Ho, Best Original Score for AR Rahman, and Best Sound Mixing for Resul Pookutty.
The Oscars will be held on March 10 next year.
