Kolkata: No film may have released in most of 2020, but India will still send an entry for the Academy Awards. This is the first year that a good number of OTT releases will be among the 27 films that are currently being viewed online by jury members who will select the Indian entry to the Oscars.

Last year, Zoya Akhtar’s ‘Gully Boy’ was selected as India’s Oscar entry. This year, the jury is being chaired by director Rahul Rawail. According to a source, some of the Hindi films submitted for consideration are ‘Sir’, ‘Shikara’, ‘Gunjan Saxena’, ‘Shakuntala Devi’, ‘Bahattar Hoorain’, ‘Malang’, ‘Chhalaang’, ‘Gulabo Sitabo’, ‘Chhapaak’, ‘Bhonsle’, ‘AK vs AK’, ‘Kaamyaab’, ‘Serious Men’, ‘Bulbbul’, ‘I Pad’, ‘Atkan Chatkan’ and ‘Chintu Ka Birthday’.

Of these, ‘Gunjan Saxena’, ‘Serious Men’, ‘Shakuntala Devi’, ‘Bulbbul’, ‘Gulabo Sitabo’, ‘Chintu Ka Birthday’ and ‘Bhonsle’ have already been released on OTT platforms. Three Marathi films —‘Chippa’, ‘The Disciple’ and ‘Bittersweet’— and two Malayalam movies, ‘Moothon’ and ‘Jallikattu’, are also in contention. Not a single Bengali film is in the race this year, though last year ‘Nagarkirtan’, ‘Tarikh-A Timeline’ and ‘Konttho’ were considered.

Director Nila Madha Panda’s Odia film, ‘Yesterday’s Past’ (‘Kalira Atita’) has been submitted. “It is almost like a silent film about a man and the sea. The film is based on the vanishing villages by the sea,” Panda said.

‘Bittersweet’ director Ananth Narayan Mahadevan said it was important that the film representing a country ticked all the important boxes for an Oscar shortlist. The film had an original subject that had never been explored on the Indian screen. It is on how woman sugarcane-cutters in India are “advised” to undergo hysterectomy to save four working days a month that they may lose to the menstrual cycle.

“It is rooted in its country of origin, is about human rights, tells an emotionally charged story and has an international appeal — these are all requisite boxes for an Oscar jury. It will be a privilege to represent the country with such content that received rave reviews at Busan International Film Festival,” Mahadevan said.