India is heading to the 2027 Oscars with a film that feels deeply local.
Marathi thriller Gondhal, written and directed by Santosh Davakhar, has been selected as India’s official submission for the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards. The Film Federation of India chose the film from 33 entries considered this year.
It is an interesting choice precisely because Gondhal does not arrive as a giant commercial spectacle. Its world is rural Maharashtra, its emotional engine is intimate, and its story grows out of a traditional ritual that many viewers outside the state may never have encountered before.
A Thriller Hidden Inside a Ritual
The film takes its name from Gondhal, a traditional Maharashtrian devotional performance combining music, singing, dance and worship, often continuing late into the night.
Davakhar does not use the ritual merely as colourful background.
Instead, the sounds, movement and heightened atmosphere become part of the tension itself.
At the centre of the story is Suman, a woman trapped in an unhappy life. Against the charged atmosphere of a Gondhal ceremony, desire, manipulation and the hope of escape begin pulling the characters towards increasingly dangerous choices. What initially looks like a celebration gradually opens into a darker story about betrayal, jealousy, survival and the price people may be willing to pay for freedom.
That collision between devotion and human weakness gives the film its most distinctive identity.
A Small Film With a Growing Journey
The Oscar selection did not come from nowhere.
Gondhal had already attracted attention on the festival circuit. At the 56th International Film Festival of India in 2025, Santosh Davakhar received the Silver Peacock for Best Director, with the jury praising the way the film brought cultural tradition and storytelling together.
The film has also received recognition at festivals including the Bengaluru International Film Festival, Pune International Film Festival and Third Eye Asian Film Festival.
Its theatrical performance was comparatively quiet after its November 2025 release, making its journey particularly interesting. This is a film whose reputation has grown less through box office noise and more through the people who encountered it at festivals and responded to its filmmaking.
Ilaiyaraaja Adds Another Layer
The film also carries a major name in its credits.
Music for Gondhal is composed by Ilaiyaraaja, whose score becomes especially significant in a story where rhythm, drums and ritual performance are already central to the atmosphere.
The cast includes Kishor Kadam, Ishita Deshmukh, Yogesh Sohoni, Nishad Bhoir and Anuj Prabhu, with Davakhar serving as writer, director and producer.
Marathi Cinema Returns to the Oscar Race
Gondhal is only the fourth Marathi film to be selected as India’s official Oscar submission, following earlier entries including Court.
But being India’s official entry does not yet make it an Oscar nominee.
The film must now make it through the Academy’s international voting process, first reaching the 15 film shortlist and then the final five nominations. The 99th Academy Awards are scheduled for March 14, 2027.
Glamcheck Take
There is something refreshing about India sending a film that does not try to look internationally familiar.
Gondhal goes in the opposite direction. It becomes more specific, more regional and more rooted in its own cultural world.
And perhaps that is exactly what gives it a chance to travel.
