Neena Gupta-starrer The Last Color in Oscars race

Celebrity chef Vikas Khanna’s directorial debut film, The Last Color, is eligible for Oscars 2020 in the Best Picture category. The list was released by the Academy today and shared by the makers. For a film to be eligible, it must have opened in a commercial theater in Los Angeles County by December 31, and began a minimum run of seven consecutive days.

Fronted by Neena Gupta, The Last Color captures the life of widows in Vrindavan and Varanasi. It is based on Vikas’ own book of the same name, published in 2018. The film premiered at the 30th Palm Springs International Film Festival last year and was screened at the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. It has not received a theatrical release in India yet.

The 92nd Academy Awards will be held on February 9 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy was submitted as India’s official entry in the Best Foreign Language Film category last year, but did not make the top-10 shortlist.