Marathi Film ‘Court’ Becomes India’s Official Entry For Oscars

Last year when Film Federation Of India chose to send ‘The Good Road’ as India’s official entry to the Oscars instead of ‘The Lunchbox’, audiences thought that the federation has made a mistake. This time, the committee has chosen to send Marathi-English film ‘Court’, helmed by debutant Chaitanya Tamhane. The audiences definately agree with the choice made.

Tamhane fell short of words to describe his feelings. “At every juncture of Court's journey, we've felt that it's given us more than we ever imagined. Once again, this has come as a genuine surprise to both Vivek and me. Ever since we started making the film, we had kept our expectations low. And in this case, since these results tend to be so unpredictable, it just feels wise not to expect too much”, he said. He also said, “Court's been awarded, praised and acclaimed wherever we've taken it. It's humbling to know that a debut project has become India's most feted film ever”.

The film was shot on a budget of Rs. 3.5 crore. Tamhane has no formal training in cinema. He has only made a short film Six Strands in the past. The 28-year-old director first thought of making Court in 2011 but it took three years for him to research for the same. Court has won best feature film award at 62^nd national awards in March and subsequently it has won 17 international awards.