Actor Sonu Sood’s Chinese film Xuanzang has been named China’s official pick for the 89th Academy Awards, and the Bollywood actor is feeling proud.
“It feels superb. I was remembering those days when I was doing the costume fittings for the film. The entire team had come and then we shot [for it], and then we went for the premiere ... We never realised that it is going to be such a huge surprise for us in the coming months. I feel very proud and honoured to be part of such a huge film,” he said over phone from Mumbai.
Xuanzang, which has been extensively shot in Daulatabad Fort in Aurangabad, also stars Neha Sharma and Mandana Karimi. It’s a Chinese historical adventure based on Xuanzang’s 17-year journey to India. Sood plays the role of King Harshavardhan.
The 43-year-old actor said: “When you come from a very small town watching the Oscars is such a huge high. We used to wait for it to come on TV and now when your film is an official entry to such a huge platform ... So we feel blessed and really nice. Someone somewhere is wishing for me. Wishes from my parents are there,” added Sood, who will soon be seen sharing screen space with legendary actor Jackie Chan in Kung Fu Yoga.
Xuanzang toppled the award-winning artistic film Crosscurrent in a neck-and-neck competition for the Oscar entry. Two films from China have been nominated twice in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Academy Awards, but the country has not won the award so far.
