Mumbai sources reported that Village Rockstars” was selected as India’s official entry to the 91st Academy Awards on Saturday, following which members of the Film Federation of India (FFI) urged the Indian film industry and the government to promote the Assamese film for the final round. Meanwhile the chairman of the committee S.V. Rajendra Singh Babu, also a veteran film producer, made the announcement.
When talking about the selection of the film, Anant Mahadevan, one of the members of the committee, said “One of the criteria is that the film has to be rooted in India with a universal message. The film has to be professionally and technically well made with hardly any flaws to capture and a well-performed film and it was absolutely a unanimous decision. Moreover the film ‘Village Rockstars’ got votes of all the jury members unanimously. We are very proud of this film.”As many as 28 films were shortlisted for India’s official entry to the Oscars. Some of the big budget Bollywood films like “Padmaavat”, “Raazi”, “Hichki” and “PadMan” along with some of the critically acclaimed movies like “Love Sonia”, “Manto”, “Kadvi Hawa” and “Gali Guleiyan” were also part of the list.
Moreover the selection
committee also comprised directors G Neelakanta Reddy and Shiboprosad
Mukherjee, cinematographer Ajayan Joseph Vincent and film editor Sanjay Sankla,
among others. Village Rockstars”, directed by Rima Das, won the National Film
Award for Best Feature Film this year.
