Gondhal Is India’s Oscars 2027 Entry: Gondhal has been chosen as India’s entry for the Oscars 2027, and this puts Marathi cinema in a new global spotlight. The film is directed and written by Santosh Davakhar. It is a Marathi psychological and cultural thriller. The Film Federation of India, or FFI, picked it from 33 films that were in the running for India’s submission to the 99th Academy Awards.
The update was shared in Mumbai on September 18, 2026. Gondhal will be shown in the International Feature Film category at the Oscars 2027. The 99th Academy Awards are planned for March 14, 2027. The event will be held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
Gondhal leans on a Gondhal tradition that is strongly linked to Maharashtra. The film does not treat the ritual as just scenery. The folk performance is used as a core part of how the story moves.
Most of the action takes place in rural Maharashtra. The plot follows a Gondhal ceremony that is carried out after a marriage. The narrative grows through ritual, music, dance, and everyday village life. It looks at control, longing, plans made by others, harm, old ways, and the fight for space of one’s own.
The film keeps its local texture while also building a conflict that many people can recognize, even if they are not from Maharashtra. This mix of place and shared human struggles is a key reason the film stands out.
Gondhal tracks Suman, a young woman stuck in a marriage she does not want. Anandarao is her husband, and the home feels wrong to her. Still, life shifts when she starts seeing Sahebrao, who works as a Gondhali performer. At the same time, Sarjerao, Anandarao’s cousin, grows fixated on Suman and watches for any chance.
All this unfolds as the Gondhal ritual runs through the night. The slow ceremony brings more than songs. It also pulls out fights over control and motives that were kept quiet. People act polite on the surface, but their real goals show up in small ways.
Later, Suman turns Sarjerao’s obsession into leverage. She uses it in a risky plan meant to get free. What starts as a wedding ritual soon turns into a setting for lies, rough acts, and a try to escape. The CBFC summary frames it as a tale where a trapped wife uses her moves during the Maharashtra Gondhal ritual to break away. It also makes salvation feel close to harm.
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The term Gondhal points to an older Maharashtrian tradition of ritual performance. It includes devotional singing, music, and dance. Usually it is done when things are considered auspicious, such as weddings. The rite calls on deities and asks for protection from bad luck.
Director Santosh Davakhar has said the film also aimed to keep this culture from fading. In his talk at IFFI, he mentioned memories of seeing Gondhal with his grandparents. He said he wanted to show the traditional form clearly on screen.
The film features:
Santosh Davakhar serves as the film’s writer and director. Ilaiyaraaja is credited as the music director, while Amalendu Chaudhary handled cinematography.
At the 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in 2025, Santosh Davakhar won the Silver Peacock Award for Best Director for Gondhal. The award carried a trophy, certificate and ₹15 lakh cash prize.
The film later received the FIPRESCI Award in the Indian Cinema competition at the 17th Bengaluru International Film Festival 2026. FIPRESCI’s review highlighted how the film combines its narrative with the Gondhal ritual itself, making the cultural form an integral part of the storytelling.
The film has also been listed with awards at the Pune International Film Festival and Third Eye Asian International Film Festival, among other festival recognitions.
Gondhal came out in theaters on November 14, 2025. Sacnilk shows an India total close to ₹0.84 crore, with a worldwide total near ₹0.90 crore. A separate tracking site later put the worldwide number at about ₹1.08 crore, counting the first 13 days.
These numbers come from third-party tracking. They should be seen as rough estimates, not as audited figures from the producers.
In the end, the movie did not turn into a big box-office success. Still, its festival run and the reviews it got have drawn more attention than its theater collections.
Marathi films named as India’s official Oscar entries before this were:
India has not won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film yet. In this category, three Indian films have been nominated before: Mother India, Salaam Bombay!, and Lagaan.
Not yet. Choosing the official entry is a key step, but it does not equal an Oscar nomination by itself. Gondhal will now move into the Academy’s review process for the International Feature Film category. The final nominees will be announced later in the awards timeline.
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