'Jai Bhim' & 'Marakkar': Two Indian films part of Oscars 2022 shortlist for Best Picture

India has been sending films to Oscars in the Best Foreign Picture category for years, but only a few have been able to make it to the main nominations of the Academy Awards. This year, the Tamil film Koozhangal had been sent, but could not make it to the main category of the best foreign film category. However, two Indian films have made it to the shortlist in a bigger category, the Best Picture.

Tamil film Jai Bhim and Malayalam film Marakkar: Lions of the Arabian Sea have been named in the 276 films as a part of the shortlist. Among the other Indian representative on the list is Adil Hussain, whose film India Sweet and Spices, is also a part of the list. The film also stars Manisha Koirala, one of the established Bollywood actresses of all time. 

Jai Bhim, Marakkar make it to Oscars shortlist for Best Film

On Wednesday, The Academy made an announcement about the 276 feature films in contention for Best Film. While there were Hollywood films, being termed as contenders, like Dune, The Power of the Dog, Tick, Tick... Boom!, West Side Story and more on the list, two Indian films too stood out.

Read the full list here.

Jai Bhim and Marakkar create waves

A few days a mention of Jai Bhim on Oscars' Youtube channel had similarly delighted fans of the lead actor Suriya. 

Among the other feats for Jai Bhim, apart from its success on Amazon Prime Video where it premiered, has been that it boasts of an impressive 9.3 rating on the rating platform IMDb. It is a part of the platform's top 250 films and is among the handful few Indian movies to make it to the list.

The drama traces the story of a tribal woman searching for her husband after he goes missing from police custody and a lawyer coming to help out to find the truth, as caste-based issues come into the picture.  

Veteran Malayam actor Mohanlal's Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea was honoured with the National Award for Best Film last year. It had been announced as a recipient of many awards at the National Awards even before it was released. The film is an action-adventure tracing the story of the 16th-century naval commander Kunjali Marakkar leading the battle against the Portuguese invasion.