Filmmaker Ketan Mehta says he has yet been confirmed as the head of the jury that will pick India’s Oscar entry next year.
According to media reports, the Film Federation of India (FFI) has started the process to pick the film that will represent India at the 89th Academy Awards.
There are rumours that Mehta, known for framing real-life stories in an unconventional way on the silver screen, has been approached to head the 17-member jury that comprises technicians and artists from the film industry.
When contacted, Mehta said: “I am still to get an official confirmation.”
Mehta is famous for films such as Sardar, Mangal Pandey: The Rising, Rang Rasiya and his last release, Manjhi: The Mountain Man.
Now he is making Rani Laxmi Bai, a biopic on the rani (queen) of Jhansi, one of the leaders of the First Indian War of Independence in 1857, with Kangana Ranaut.
Last year, Chaitanya Tamhane’s debut Marathi movie Court, a courtroom drama that won a National Film Award, was chosen as India’s official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 88th Academy Awards.
The FFI jury was headed by veteran actor-filmmaker Amol Palekar last year.
