Some films travel to the Oscars after a long festival run, while others find a fresh audience only after being selected as their country's official entry. Gondhal is taking a slightly different route. The Marathi psychological thriller, which has already travelled through the festival circuit, is now being brought back to theatres as its team prepares for its Oscar campaign.
The film has already had an eventful journey. Santosh Davakhar won the Silver Peacock for Best Director at the 56th International Film Festival of India, while Gondhal also received the FIPRESCI Award at the Bengaluru International Film Festival. The film's selection as India's entry for the 99th Academy Awards has now put the Marathi production in the national spotlight.
The makers have announced special paid previews of Gondhal across six Indian cities ahead of its wider worldwide theatrical release. The screenings are scheduled to begin on October 9 in Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, with the previews being held in Marathi and Hindi.
The timing is significant because the film is being prepared for a much larger multilingual rollout. Following the previews, Gondhal is expected to release worldwide in Marathi, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. A story rooted in the folk traditions of Maharashtra will therefore be taken to audiences across linguistic markets, including Chennai.
Written and directed by Davakhar, Gondhal draws from the traditional Maharashtrian ritual of the same name, which combines music, percussion, dance, devotional storytelling and performance. The film uses this cultural setting within a psychological thriller, exploring human desire, relationships and the darker impulses that emerge within its characters. The cast includes Kishore Kadam, Ishita Deshmukh, Yogesh Sohoni, Nishad Bhoir and Anju Prabhu.
The Oscar selection came after the Film Federation of India chose Gondhal from 33 submissions for consideration in the Best International Feature Film category. Davakhar subsequently said that the team had been preparing for an Oscar attempt for around a year, irrespective of whether the film was ultimately selected as India's official entry.