Marathi film Gondhal selected as India’s official entry for Oscars 2027

India has picked its contender for the Best International Feature Film race at the 99th Academy Awards, and this year, it's a Marathi film. Gondhal, directed by Santosh Davakhar, was named the country's official entry by the Film Federation of India, put forward after committee chair P Seshadri and his panel reviewed 33 submissions.

Davakhar isn't new to acclaim, he recently took home the Silver Peacock for Best Director at the 56th International Film Festival of India, and this Oscar nod builds on that festival momentum.

Gondhal borrows its title and setting from the traditional Maharashtrian midnight ritual of the same name, using it as the tense backdrop for a night that spirals into crime. Running 117 minutes, the film centers on Suman, played by Ishita Deshmukh, a woman trapped in an outwardly comfortable marriage to the affluent Anand (Yogesh Sohoni) that leaves her unfulfilled.

Everything shifts when she becomes drawn to Saheba, a performer in the Gondhal ritual itself. Desperate to break free of her marriage, Suman hatches a dangerous scheme, drawing in Anand's cousin Sarjerao (Nishad Bhoir), whose own obsession with her makes him easy to manipulate. The plan spirals past the point of return, into murder, leaving Suman to navigate the fallout of love, betrayal, and self-preservation.

The cast also includes Kishor Kadam in a key supporting role.