A casual conversation about the quality of South Indian cinema turned into a fun banter between Jayaram and his actor son Kalidas recently. In their recent conversation with Pearle Maaney, Kalidas Jayaram cited Tourist Family's presence in the Oscar General Entry list as the epitome of filmmaking quality in South India. "I think South Indian film industry in general is doing world class content. And now Tourist Family has been selected for a Best Picture Oscar, as a nominee," he said. Hearing this, Jayaram interjected the conversation by saying that even his film Kantara has also been 'selected' for the award. Kalidas replied to his father by asking if Kantara is indeed in "the best picture nominee list?" Jayaram said that while he does not know the specific category, it has been 'nominated'. Eventually, Pearle Maaney referred to the popular 'memefied' moment from 2014's Salaam Kashmier where Jayaram's character expresses his pride as Suresh Gopi's character reveals his identity as a highly adept military officer to Lalu Alex's character. The reference had the father-son duo in splits.

Funnily enough, no film from India, whether it be Tourist Family or Kantara, has been nominated for a Best Picture Oscar this year. Jayaram and Kalidas appear to have mistook the said films' presence in the Oscar General Entry List for their nomination. Their mistake is not without rhyme or reason, as the makers of Tourist Family and Kantara actively promoted the films with wordings suggesting that these are Best Picture Oscar contenders. While they are technically right to do so because, in a literal sense, any film meeting the basic eligibility criteria of The Academy is technically a 'contender'. However, "contending" generally suggests that the film in question is actively taking part in the so-called For Your Consideration (FYC) campaign. The said list of films is massive, and with such marketing, the filmmakers might only be being highly aspirational and cashing in on the fact that their films are part of the broader discourse related to the prestigious award.

Many netizens, including journalists, called out those producers for such marketing, alleging that it misleads audiences. The only Indian film that was in serious contention for the Best International Feature Oscar award, Neeraj Ghaywan's critically acclaimed drama Homebound, missed out on being one of the nominees for it.

Coming back to Jayaram and Kalidas, the actors reunite onscreen after a long time with Ashakal Aayiram.