Not Sardar Udham or Sherni, Tamil film Koozhangal India's official entry for Oscars

Tamil film Koozhangal (Pebbles) will represent India in the international feature film category at the 94th Academy Awards. The film beat 15 films, including Hindi films Sardar Udham, Sherni, Malayalam Nayattu and the Tamil Mandela that were running to be sent to the Oscars.

Hyderabad (Telangana): Tamil director PS Vinothraj’s debut film Koozhangal (Pebbles) will represent India in the international feature film category at the 94th Academy Awards. The announcement was made today by Shaji N Karun, the chairperson of the 15-member selection committee. The decision was unanimous, said FFI Secretary General Supran Sen.

Karun and a panel of 14 other judges were given the task of zeroing down on the film that would best represent India at the world's largest carnival of cinema -- the Oscars, which will be held on March 27, 2022, at the iconic Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California.

Vinothraj’s maiden directorial venture bagged the prestigious Tiger Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam earlier this year. Koozhangal is only the second Indian movie to win the Tiger Award after Sanal Kumar Sasidharan’s Sexy Durga in 2017.

The film beat 15 films, including Hindi films Sardar Udham, Sherni, Malayalam Nayattu and the Tamil Mandela that were running to be sent to the Oscars.

For Koozhangal, Vinothraj took inspiration from a real-life incident that had happened in his family. The film is story of an alcoholic wife-beater who embarks on a journey with his young son to bring back his estranged wife from her parent's home whom he had chased away.

The film has presented by Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivan and featured music by Yuvan Shankar Raja.