5 Bollywood Films That Could've Gone To The Oscars Instead Of Newton

This morning the news came From the Film Federation of India that Newton has been picked as India’s official entry to the next year’s Oscars. The film was competing against 25 other films and was selected by a jury of 14 people. The black comedy takes a satirical look at the electoral system and conducting free and fair elections in insurgent areas. Rajkummar Rao , the lead actor, shared the news on Twitter and congratulated the whole crew of the film. Till now, only 3 official Indian entries have made it to the final nominees for Best Foreign Language Film and they are Lagaan , Salaam Bombay and Mother India. Not any of the films have won and Newton obviously has lots of expectations riding on it. Not to take anything away from Newton’s achievements, we take a look at 5 other films that could’ve easily been picked as India’s Official entry to next year’s Oscars:

Hindi Medium - The Irrfan Khan - Saba Qamar starrer turned out to be a super hit and was widely appreciated for its content and message that it sent. A hilarious look at the measures the rich people would go to have their kid at the best school in Delhi and the education system that is plagued by reservations, donations and corruption which poor people can’t even dream of. The film could have been India’s official entry.

Lipstick under My Burkha- The film has garnered universal acclaim both from the critics as well as the audiences alike. A darling of the awards circuit, the film gained buzz from the highly positive word of mouth and won the Spirit of Asia Award in Tokyo and Oxfam Award for best film on gender equality in Mumbai among various others. The film is focused on 4 female leads and deals with takes a look at various obstacles the females in Indian society face on a daily basis and how difficult that is with a special focus on the sexuality of these women. The film could’ve been an equally strong contender.

Gurgaon- The highly acclaimed film explored the ugly turn the relationships in a dysfunctional family take when their adopted daughter returns from the USA. The film focused on the psychotic behaviour of its characters, sibling rivalry, jealousy and various complex emotions and their effect on the film’s characters. The film garnered a lot of praise on the international circuit as well.

A Death in the Gunj- The film is a coming of age story set in the town of McCluskiegunj set in 1979. It was highly praised for its story and performances with many people calling it the best film of the year. The film was showcased at various international films and received critical acclaim from all the places.

Shubh Mangal Savdhan- This could have been the dark horse in this race. The film is a romantic comedy where the lead character suffers from erectile dysfunction and considering that in India nobody likes to talk on these ‘taboo’ topics in the open, the film did pretty well at the box office and was warmly received by the audiences. The story, the characters and their reactions to the problem resulted in hilarious situations and people seemed to connect with it without deeming the film as vulgar. It could’ve also been India’s official entry.