Mollywood: Jallikattu Is India’s Official Entry For The Oscars

Lijo Jose Pellissery’s directed Jallikattu has been selected as India’s official entry for the 93rd Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category.

Some of the other movies to be in the race of India’s entry for Oscars 2021 were The Disciple, Shakuntala Devi, Shikara, Gunjan Saxena, Chhapaak, AK vs AK, Gulabo Sitabo, Bhonsle, Chhalaang, Eeb Allay Ooo!, Check Post, Atkan Chatkan, Serious Men, Bulbul, Kaamyaab, The Sky is Pink, Chintu ka Birthday and Bittersweet.

What’s Jallikattu?

The name Jallikattu actually comes from an ancient sport of Tamil Nadu, celebrated during Pongal, it is a festival where people assemble at one place and the Bulls are let out one by one. The participant should embrace the bull by holding its hump for a specific period of time to win. Lijo Jose Pellissery’s movie is based on this South Indian ritual.

• The movie displays the chaos unleashed in a remote village after a buffalo set to slaughter runs amok resulting in a manhunt that becomes a metaphor for history of human aggression.

Why Jallikatu?

Filmmaker Rahul Rawail, Chairman, Jury Board, Film Federation of India, stated the reason behind choosing Jallikattu among 27 other movies in the list. He said, “It is a film that really brings out the raw problems which are there in human beings, that is we are worse than animals.

Till date only three Indian movies have been nominated for the Oscars under the foreign language category which was introduced in 1957. The movies include “Mother India” (1958), “Salaam Bombay!” (1989) and “Lagaan” (2002).

The 93rd Academy awards will take place on April 25, 2021.