On Friday, a 14-member jury chosen by The Film Federation of India (FFI) chose the Marathi film Gondhal as India’s official entry for the 99th Academy Awards that will be held in March next year. However, the announcement did not go down well with the fans of recent blockbuster franchise Dhurandhar, which was hailed by many to be the best Indian film in recent times, and considered an ideal representation of the country on an international stage like Oscars. Meanwhile, Viveck Vaswani, one of the jury members, addressed the subject in a recent interview, explaining why Dhurandhar wasn’t considered. 

Speaking with NDTV, Viveck Vaswani said that jury members didn’t agree on Dhurandhar being ‘Oscar material,’ even though four members voted for it. Elaborating on their selection criteria and why Gondhal fit it, he stated, “The film has to represent Indian culture and tradition in such a way that it has global appeal. So we’re talking of a film that is Indian and global. This one was.”

The actor-producer also shared that the films actually in running were the Naga-film Angh and Imtiaz Ali’s partition drama Main Vaapas Aaunga. Speaking about why Imtiaz Ali’s film didn't make the cut, Viveck added, “We thought anything to do with India-Pakistan may not resonate with the audience in America. I mean, it’s like Israel sending an anti-Palestine film. It was not an anti-Pakistan film. It was a very sensitive film, but it didn’t get enough votes from the jury. "

Vivek Vaswani, who has also produced many films in the 90s, is more popular for his on-screen appearances in films like Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman (1992), Josh (2000) and many more. 

Gondhal, meanwhile, is the fourth Marathi film ever to be chosen as India’s official entry for Academy Awards. The previous three films were Shwaas (2004), Harishchandra Chi Factory (2013), and Court (2014).