‘Dhurandhar got 4 votes from 14-member jury’: Vivek Vaswani on why Ranveer Singh’s film wasn’t India’s Oscar entry
Here's the latest update from the Bollywood world:
The moment Marathi movie Gondhal was revealed as India’s official entry for the 99th Academy Awards, social media was abuzz, with many discussing how the movie had beaten Ranveer Singh’s box-office juggernaut Dhurandhar to become India’s official Oscar entry. Now, one of the members of The Movie Federation of India jury, Vivek Vaswani, has revealed why the movie was not selected.
Adding to this, Ranveer Singh in a still from Dhurandhar The Revenge. Why Dhurandhar wasn't India's official Oscar entry In conversation with NDTV, Vivek was asked where Dhurandhar stood when the jury had to make the final decision and select one movie from India. He responded, “Couple of people liked it but we didn't think that it was Oscar material.” Vivek also told the website that the Dhurandhar films did not represent Indian culture in the way the jury was looking for while deciding India's official submission.
Meanwhile, When asked how many of the 14 jury members voted in favour of the movie, Vivek responded, “Four.”
Notably, As per the report, Gondhal emerged from a field of 33 films, including 14 Hindi films, four Marathi films, four Telugu films, three Gujarati films, three Tamil films, one Malayalam movie, one Nepali movie and one movie from Nagaland.
As per the latest buzz, The jury's final three films were Gondhal, Angh and Maine Vaapas Aayunga, with the Marathi movie eventually being selected as India's official entry for the 2027 Oscars.
In further updates, Gondhal, directed and written by Santosh Davakhar, is a thriller set against the backdrop of Maharashtra's traditional midnight ritual and folk-performance form from which it takes its name. The movie's cultural setting and representation of Indian culture were among the factors that appealed to the jury.
On top of that, The movie has also made its mark on the international festival circuit, with Davakhar winning the Silver Peacock Award for Best Director at the 56th International Movie Festival of India (IFFI) in 2025.
Ranveer Singh headlines the Dhurandhar franchise, directed by Aditya Dhar. The first movie, Dhurandhar, rolled out in December 2025 and was followed by Dhurandhar: The Revenge in March 2026. The two films became major box-office successes, with the franchise earning around ₹ 3,000 crore rupees worldwide.
Source: Hindustan Times