Why Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar missed India’s Oscar entry; FFI jury member reveals what happened
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Why Dhurandhar missed India’s Oscar entry Photograph: (X)
Following the announcement of India’s official submission for the 99th Academy Awards, a member of the FFI jury has revealed why Ranveer Singh's Dhurandhar did not make it to the Oscars.
Marathi thriller Gondhal was confirmed as India’s official submission for the 99th Academy Awards by the Film Federation of India on September 18. This has also sparked conversations around Aditya Dhar's Dhurandhar, which was among the films considered for the Oscar entry.
While it emerged as a box office success, breaking several previous records, the spy action thriller did not receive support during the Oscar selection process. Reacting to the buzz, Vivek Vaswani, who was part of the 14-member FFI jury, has shared details about the voting.
Vivek Vaswani on Dhurandhar
While speaking to NDTV, Vaswani was asked about Dhurandhar during the voting. "Couple of people liked it but we didn't think that it was Oscar material," he said revealing panel's decision.
According to him, the jury was considering how effectively a film could showcase aspects of Indian culture while deciding on the country's submission.
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When asked how many members of the 14-person jury voted for Dhurandhar, Vaswani answered, “Four.”
About Gondhal
Gondhal was chosen after the jury considered 33 films representing several Indian languages. The submissions included 14 Hindi films, four Marathi films, four Telugu films, three Gujarati films, three Tamil films, one Malayalam film, one Nepali film and one film from Nagaland.
Deeply rooted in Maharashtra's traditional Gondhal ritual and folk-performance tradition, the movie has received widespread praise from critics as well as audiences. Before being chosen as an Oscar submission, the director of the movie, Davakhar, won the Silver Peacock for Best Director for the film at the 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in 2025.
The film was released in November 2025 and stars Ishita Deshmukh, Yogesh Sohoni, Kishor Kadam, Suresh Vishwakarma, Nishad Bhoir, Anuj Prabhu, and Vitthal Kale.
The 117-minute Marathi film unfolds over a single night and follows Suman, a woman, who is in an unhappy marriage to Anand, a wealthy man. She's in love with Saheba, a Gondhali performer, and begins planning to leave her marriage. However, their plan has led Anand's obsessive cousin Sarjerao into a dangerous plot. What begins as an escape leads to murder, deception, desire and survival.
About Dhurandhar
Directed by Dhar, the film starred Ranveer Singh in the lead role. The first instalment arrived in December 2025, while Dhurandhar: The Revenge followed in March 2026. The franchise also featured Akshaye Khanna, Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Rampal, R Madhavan and Sara Arjun, and more. The franchise reportedly earned around ₹3,000 crore worldwide.
Gondhal, meanwhile, will compete in the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards. The ceremony is expected to happen on March 14, 2027.
