As ‘2018’ hopes for the Oscars 2024, a recap of Malayalam films selected for the Academy Awards

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By Arjun Ramachandran

03/10/2023

The Malayalam film industry was elated when 2018: Everyone is a Hero was selected as India’s official entry for the Oscars 2024.

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The 16-member committee appointed by the Film Federation chose the Malayalam movie out of 22 films shortlisted for the Academy Awards 2024.

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Committee Chairman Girish Kasaravalli said, “Of the 22 films shortlisted for the Oscars 2024, 2018: Everyone is a Hero was the collective decision of the jury.”

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Venu Kunnappily, a producer for 2018, believes that there’s a huge challenge in front of them as the jury members are from other countries like the USA and the UK.

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Just like the Malayalam film And The Oscar Goes To (2019) based on Salim Ahamed’s life story, here are three films selected by India for the Oscars earlier were not nominated.

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Guru (1997), directed by Rajiv Anchal, was the first Malayalam movie to enter the Oscars race in 1997. But it wasn’t nominated.

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Adaminte Makan Abu, directed by Salim Ahamed (2011), The nomination would not directly result in monetary rewards and hence, nobody would loan him money.

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Lijo Jose Pellissery’s Jallikattu (2019) was selected as the Indian entry for the Best International Feature Film for the 93rd Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.

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Post this the need to lobby in Los Angeles became evident. The producers for RRR (2022) also spent ₹80 crore lobbying, to get the Best Original Song for “Naatu Naatu”.

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After all, at the end of the day, these promotions could help in a full-fledged theatrical release in at least some parts of the USA, thereby winning a nomination.

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